The purpose of the article is to study and discuss the general problems of such an important area of information activity as cognitive modeling of complex systems, its main stages and components. Research methods are methods of semantic analysis of the basic concepts of the subject domain (cognitive modeling of complex systems). The article deals with approaches to the interpretation of the concepts of cognitive analysis and cognitive modeling of complex systems related to organizational, managerial and informational aspects. In the article the essence of cognitive modeling from the standpoint of maintenance of this sphere of information activity is considered. The novelty of the research is the application of cognitive modeling of complex systems on the example of the education system. The conclusion of the research carried out in the article is that computer simulation contributes to: taking into account the changes of the external environment and the object of control itself (education system); systematization and verification of the expert’s representations about the object of management (education system) and its external environment; planning of the future taking into account existing perspectives, resources, funds; use in their interests objectively formed tendencies in the development of a situation concerning a complex system (education system); forecasting the consequences of relevant managerial decisions regarding the development of the education system; the development of optimal strategies for managing the education system taking into account the impact of various types of trends and factors.