Zhongkao

The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as Gaokao (高考; gāokǎo; 'High[er
Education] Exam'), is an academic examination held annually in the People's Republic of China.[note
1]
This Standardized test is a prerequisite for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at
the undergraduate level. It is usually taken by students in their last year of senior high school, and there has
been no age restriction since 2001.
The exams last about nine hours over a period of two or three days, depending on the province. The Standard
Chinese language and mathematics are included in all tests. Candidates can choose one of the subjects in
English, French, Japanese, Russian, German and Spanish as a foreign language test (although the six
languages were identified as college entrance examination subjects in 1983, the vast majority of candidates
regard "foreign language" as "English", and English is the choice of the most candidates). In addition, students
must choose between two concentrations in most regions, either the social-science-oriented area (文科倾向) or
the natural-science-oriented area (理科倾向). Students who choose social sciences receive further testing
in history, politics and geography (文科综合), while those who choose natural sciences are tested in physics,
chemistry and biology (理科综合).
In 2006, a record high of 9.5 million people applied for tertiary education entry in China. Of these, 8.8 million
(93%) took the national entrance exam and 27,600 (0.28%) were exempted (保送) due to exceptional or
special talent. Everyone else (700,000 students) took other standardized entrance exams, such as those
designed for adult education students. In 2018, it was reported that 9.75 million people applied for tertiary
education entry.
The overall mark received by the student is generally a weighted sum of their subject marks. The maximum
possible mark varies widely from year to year and also varies from province to province.
Generally, the modern College Entrance Examination takes place from 7 to 8 June every year, though in some
provinces it can last for an extra day.[1]

Procedure[edit]
The National Higher Education Entrance Examination is not uniform across the country, but administered
uniformly within each province of China or each direct-controlled municipality. The National Higher Education
Entrance Examination is graded variously across the country. It is arranged at the end of the spring semester
and secondary school graduates across the country take the examination simultaneously over a three-day
period. Prior to 2003, the examination was held in July, but has since been moved to the month of June. This
move was made in consideration of the adverse effects of hot weather on students living in southern China and
possible flooding during the rainy season in July.
In different places and across different time in history, students were required to apply for their intended
university or college prior to the exam, after the exam, or more recently, afterthey learned of their scores, by
filling a list of ordered preferences. The application list is classified into several tiers (including at least early
admissions, key universities, regular universities, vocational colleges), each of which can contain around 4-6
intended choices in institution and program, though typically an institution or program would only admit
students who apply to it as their first choice in each tier. In some places, students are allowed to apply for
different tiers at different times. For example, in Shanghai, students apply for early admission, key universities
and regular universities prior to the exam, but can apply for other colleges after they learned of their scores.
The exam is administered for two or three days. Three subjects are mandatory
everywhere: Chinese, Mathematics, and a foreign language—usually English, but this may also be substituted
by Russian, Japanese, German, French or Spanish. The other six standard subjects are three
sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and three humanities: History, Geography, and Political
Education.[8] Applicants to science/engineering or art/humanities programs typically take one to three from the
respective category. Since the 2000s, an integrated test, science integrated test, humanities integrated test or
wider integrated test has been introduced in some places. This integrated test may or may not be considered
during admission. In addition, some special regional subjects are required or optional in some places.
Currently, the actual requirement varies from province to province.
However, the general requirements are as follows:

1. Abide by the Constitution and laws of the People's Republic of China.

2. Have a high school diploma or equivalent.
3. Be in good health.

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 4. Have read carefully and are willing to abide by the rules of the Register and other regulations and
policies of the Institutions of Higher Learning and the Office of Admissions Committee about the
enrollment management.
5. If foreign immigrants who settle down in China conform to the enlists condition of the National Higher
Education Entrance Examination, they can then apply for the National Higher Education Entrance
Examination with the foreign immigrants’ resident certificate, which are sent by the Provincial Public
Security Department at the location that is assigned.
6. If willing to apply for the Military Academy: students who are going to graduate this year and have
studied in high school for the first time can not be older than 20 years of age and unmarried; willing to
apply for the Police Academy, and students who are going to graduate this year and have studied in
high school for the first time can not be older than 22 years of age and unmarried; willing to apply for
the foreign language major in Police Academy, and students who are going to graduate this year and
have studied in high school for the first time can not be older than 20 years of age and unmarried.
7. If students from Juvenile Classes want to take the National Higher Education Entrance Examination,
their schools need to pre-select, send certification of approval, inform the exact required courses, and
clarify the offices of Admissions Committee where they will take the National Higher Education
Entrance Examination. After doing so, the students can then give the application. After the Office of
Admissions Committee reviews and approves, the students can apply for and attend the National
Higher Education Entrance Examination at the right location. Students who apply for Shao Nian Ban
must be part of the small percentage of the population. They must have very high IQ, their grades must
be excellent, and they must study at a secondary or high school under the age of 15 (not including
those who are going to graduate this year and has studied in high school for the first time).
The following groups are prohibited from taking the exam:

1. Students who are currently studying higher education.

2. Students whose files are incomplete, such as no school status.
3. One who is serving a prison sentence or is being prosecuted for violating Criminal Law of the People's
Republic of China.
Applicants to some specialist programs are also screened by additional criteria: some art departments (e.g.
audition), military and police schools (political screening and physical exam), and some sports programs
(tryout).
Scores obtained in the examinations can be used in applying universities outside mainland China. Among all
the places, the counterpart Hong Kong is on their top list. In 2007, 7 students with overall highest score in their
provinces entered Hong Kong's universities rather than the two major universities in mainland China. In 2010,
over 1,200 students entered the 12 local institutions which provide tertiary education courses through this
examination. In addition, City University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong directly
participate in the application procedure like other mainland universities.
The examination is essentially the only criterion for tertiary education admissions. A poor performance on the
test almost always means giving up on that goal. Students hoping to attend university will spend most of their
waking moments studying prior to the exam. If they fail in their first attempt, some of them repeat the last year
of high school life and make another attempt the following year.

https://www.studyinchina.com.my/web/page/study-in-china-for-american-students-in-china/

There was a time not long ago, before the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and
China in 1979, when travel between the two countries was a rare, even astonishing act. For Americans, China
was mostly something glimpsed across the border from the British colony of Hong Kong; the vast territory of
the People’s Republic to its north was what scholar Orville Schell calls “terra incognita,” with an “air of
mesmerizing impenetrability and unpossessability.” For Chinese, escaping Mao-era poverty and social controls
to the unimaginable wealth of the United States was an all but impossible dream.

Fast-forward to today. For a growing number of global citizens, boarding a plane from New York bound for
Beijing is only slightly more uncommon than flying to Houston or San Francisco. Among those who make the
trans-Pacific journey, perhaps no group more deeply commands our attention than students in institutions of
higher education. During the 2013-2014 academic year, over 274,000 Chinese students went Stateside to
pursue higher education. In the 2012-2013 academic year, the last year for which U.S. statistics are available,
over 14,000 American students did the reverse.

Certainly, no group is more poised to alter the trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship, one fraught with friction
but also characterized by ever-proliferating contact points. Those who become fluent in both China and
America — not just both languages, but both cultures, modes of doing business, and frameworks for
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interpreting the world — are likely to thrive in the new century as much-sought, and much needed, cross-
cultural natives. But who are these people, how has their time abroad changed them, and what might their
impact be both on the massive industry of higher education and, ultimately, the world’s most important bilateral
relationship? In China U, a new series, Foreign Policy seeks to answer these questions. In the first entry, FP
asks 343 Americans who have studied in China in degree or non-degree granting higher education programs
to share their experiences. Highlights from those findings are below.

To compile results, FP reached out to 210 schools and not-for-profit organizations, who then distributed the
survey to students and alumni who had previously participated in study abroad programs bringing students
from the United States to China. Among respondents, Johns Hopkins University (and its Hopkins-Nanjing
Center), the U.S. non-profit Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), and Brigham Young
University were the most represented U.S. sending institutions, while East China Normal University, Nanjing
University, and Peking University were the most represented host institutions.

Of those surveyed, nearly 54 percent identified themselves as men; over 45 percent identified themselves as
women. Almost 64 percent were between 18 and 24 years of age; over 20 percent were 25 to 29 years old,
and only 4 percent were over 40. They were almost evenly split between current students and alumni. Nearly
half said they could read a newspaper in Chinese. In most cases, answers did not differ materially along the
axes of age, gender, language skill, or status as a student or alumni.

Most of those who responded to our survey were the first in their family to study abroad.

In other words, it would appear that the growing numbers of Americans studying in places like Beijing and
Shanghai aren’t just the progeny of those who once studied in Paris or London.

Students in China made friends with Chinese people, but still tended to move in foreign circles. The
picture for integration is mixed. While only 11.6 percent of respondents said they had no Chinese friends while
living there, 55.9 percent responded that fewer than half of those in their friend circle were Chinese nationals,
and only 3.8 percent said that all of their friends in China were host country nationals:

Study in China – Plan Your Study

1. Can I study in China?

International students from all over the world are warmly welcomed to study in China. China’s universities offer
thousands of programs for foreign students. Non-degree programs teaching Chinese language and culture are
particularly popular, but it is also possible to earn your degree in China. Most degree programs are taught in
Chinese and therefore require a certain level of language proficiency. However, an increasing number of
English-taught degree programs are available. So you can make a choice according to your own situation.

2. Can I apply for MA courses if I don’t speak Chinese?

Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs) generally conduct courses in Chinese language. Applicants with
no command of Chinese are generally required to take Chinese language courses for 1-2 years before their
major studies. Applicants who apply to study science, engineering, agriculture, medicine (western medicine),
economics, management and law are required to take Chinese language courses for 1 year. Applicants who
apply to study literature, history, philosophy, and medicine (traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herb
medicine) are required to take Chinese language courses for 2 years.

Some of the Chinese HEIs offer postgraduate programs and non-degree courses for general and senior
scholars in English. Students who apply for these programs are not required to take Chinese language
courses.

3. How many kinds of universities are there in China?

There are two types of universities in China: comprehensive university and professional university.
Comprehensive universities have a wide range of disciplines, with tremendous strength in scientific research;
Professional universities are generally proficient in certain disciplines and activities carried out by students are
full of academic atmosphere.

4. What kind of program can I choose?

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China’s universities offer thousands of programs for foreign students. Non-degree programs teaching Chinese
language and culture are particularly popular, but it is also possible to earn your degree in China. Most degree
programs are taught in Chinese and therefore require a certain level of language proficiency. However, an
increasing number of English-taught degree programs are available.

5. When will the university start classes generally？

Degree programs: degree programs begin in September at most Chinese universities. A small number of
programs can admit students in February or March.

Language programs: the one-semester (4-6 months) language course usually opens in both semesters
(starting in both September and February/March); the One-year language program usually opens in
September; the short-term courses may have fixed times or may arrange a time at the request of a group of
students. Short-term summer programs usually start in June, July or August, and last 1-8 weeks.

6. Is it easy for a foreign graduate to find a job in China?

Thanks to the economic growth, the opportunities for foreigners who want to work in China have increased
considerably in the last few years. In 1996, there were 180,000 foreign workers registered in China and the
number is rapidly growing.

Teaching English is one of the main job areas for foreigners in China, while there is also a growing demand for
foreign experts in sales, engineering and management, etc. The current rise of China has made it very clear
that people who can speak Chinese and have first-hand experience of living in China are going to have a great
advantage in terms of employment.

Asia

1. Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU)

2. National University of Singapore, Singapore
3. The University of Tokyo, Japan
4. Tsinghua University -China
5. Peking University – China

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=_IZjDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=students+in+china&hl=en&sa=X&ved=
0ahUKEwit5raA6sXjAhWRLqYKHWVxAAwQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://chinapower.csis.org/china-international-students/
Is China both a source and hub for international students?
Is China both a source and hub for international students?

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Decades of economic development have enabled China’s leaders to modernize the country’s education and
transformed China into a hub for international students. Whereas foreign students historically only traveled to
China for language courses, students from around the world are increasingly drawn to China to enroll in
technical courses and attain professional degrees. China’s economic boom has also created new opportunities
for middle-class families to send their children to study abroad. Cultivating talent both at home and abroad will
be critical for Chinese leaders as they push for an innovation-based economy driven by a well-educated
workforce.
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Surging International Students in China

More international students are flocking to China than ever before. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MOFA), over 440,000 foreigners studied in China in 2016 – marking a 35 percent increase from 2012.
China attracts more international students than any other Asian power and ranks third globally, behind the
United States and the United Kingdom.

According to China’s Ministry of Education (MOE), the total share of international students seeking higher-
education degrees in China grew by 13 percent over the past 10 years, jumping from almost 55,000 students
in 2006 to nearly 210,000 students in 2016. As a share of all foreign students in China in 2016, 33 percent
pursued undergraduate degrees, while 14 percent pursued either Master or Doctorate degrees. Approximately
30 percent of students were enrolled in primary or secondary schools.

Over 50 percent of China’s inbound international students come from neighboring countries, such as South
Korea, Thailand, and Russia. Students from South Korea alone account for almost 16 percent of all foreign
students studying in China in 2016. By comparison, the United States draws nearly 80 percent of its foreign
students from Asia and the Middle East.
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Upwards of 40 percent of foreign students travel to China to study the Chinese language. While this figure is
noteworthy, it marks a 15 percent drop compared with 2012. In general terms, the amount of foreign students
pursuing non-language degrees is on the rise. Since 2012, the number of foreign students majoring in
education, science, engineering, and agriculture doubled. Xu Tao, Director of the MOE’s Department of
International Cooperation and Exchange, has stated that the most popular non-language degrees pursued by
international students in China were medicine, engineering, economics and management. Most foreigners that
study in China attend institutions in Beijing and Shanghai, with the two cities hosting about a third of all
international students.

In recent years, the Chinese government has made a renewed push to appeal to overseas students by offering
a greater range of scholarships. The number of Chinese government-funded international students witnessed
an almost six-fold increase over the past ten years. In 2016, 40 percent of all new international students
received sponsorship from the Chinese government.

Although China already hosts a sizable population of students from the 10 countries that comprise the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – around 68,000 in 2016 – Beijing is particularly focused on
promoting closer education ties with these neighbors. According to ASEAN-China Center’s Secretary-General
Yang Xiping, “foreign students from Southeast Asian countries are the bridge and future of the relationship
between ASEAN [countries] and China.” For instance, China’s Jiangsu province recently launched a $45,000
USD scholarship fund to help draw ASEAN students to its academic institutions. China’s MOE has announced
that it plans to set up 10 science and research centers by 2022 in countries of interest, such as Malaysia.
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MOE has also pledged to establish a bilateral exchange program that, over the next several years, will
annually send 2,500 Chinese students abroad and sponsor 10,000 foreign students to study in China. This
pipeline of bilateral exchange may pave the way for foreign students from Belt and Road countries, who have
already benefited from preferential government policies. Beijing currently offers 10,000 places each year for
students whose home countries are identified as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The program has
contributed to a considerable enrollment spike, with China attracting more than 200,000 students from 64 of
the 68 Belt and Road countries in 2016. Of particular note is the increasing number of students coming from
Pakistan, which has surged from about 9,500 students in 2012 to almost 19,000 students in 2016. Pakistan
now stands as the fifth-largest source of international students flowing into China.

Since 2006, China has sought to draw more students from Africa and develop closer ties by providing
economic incentives. At the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced that
China would implement “ten major plans” to boost cooperation with Africa, which includes supporting 30,000
African students with government scholarships. This effort by the Chinese government has seen major results.
The number of African students in China grew from just 1,793 in 2003 to 61,594 in 2016.1 The greatest number
of these students came from Ghana (5,552 students), Nigeria (4,746), and Tanzania (3,520).
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China is now the second-most popular international destination for African students behind France, which has
an African student body of over 95,000. By comparison, the U.S. and U.K. each host about 40,000 African
students every year. Surveys conducted by Stellenbosch University’s Center for Chinese Studies show
that economics and science degrees are the most popular among African students. Importantly, China’s drive
to attract African students has left some observers to question whether these scholarships are offered as part
of a larger soft-power strategy designed to promote China’s international image through educational
cooperation.

Despite China’s growing appeal as a destination for overseas study, foreigners face certain restrictions within
Chinese academia. A joint document issued by China’s Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Security, and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 2017 outlines the rules and regulations for Chinese universities regarding
overseas students. These restrictions include prohibiting religious gatherings and political activism. In addition,
the statement sets requirements for universities and colleges to teach Chinese laws, regulations, cultures and
customs to international students. It also includes compulsory courses in Chinese as well.

Chinese International Students Abroad

Due in part to its massive population of almost 1.4 billion people, China sends more students abroad than any
other country. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
over 801,000 Chinese students pursued tertiary education abroad in 2016. The most popular subjects chosen
by outbound Chinese students during the 2014-2015 academic year were business management (26.5
percent), engineering (19.7 percent), and math and computer science (12.4 percent).

Recently, the year-on-year growth rate of Chinese traveling abroad for education has slowed considerably from
over 12 percent in 2009 to 0.1 percent in 2015. Notwithstanding this decline, the number of Chinese students
abroad vastly surpasses that of other countries. India sends the second-highest number of post-secondary
students abroad, but at a mere 255,000 students, which, combined with German (116,000) and French
(81,000) students, is only a little more than half the total number of Chinese students abroad.

Most Chinese international students choose to study in English-speaking countries, with the U.S., Australia,
and U.K. together attracting roughly 60 percent of China’s outbound students. A significant portion Chinese
who study abroad prefer to stay within East Asia. In 2016, Japan and South Korea represented the 4th and
6th largest host countries, respectively. Hong Kong is also a popular choice among Mainland Chinese students
due to its proximity and the prestige of its academic institutes. During the 2016-2017 academic year,
universities in Hong Kong hosted over 12,000 Mainland Chinese students, which collectively constituted 12
percent of the Special Administrative Region’s total tertiary enrollment.

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, not only has China received an influx of students from
the countries associated with the initiative, but Chinese students have likewise flocked to Belt and Road
countries. By the end of April 2017, 45 educational agreements had been signed between China and some of
these countries. However, the outcome of these efforts is less than satisfactory in countries such as Thailand,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, where the number of Chinese students in these
countries has been decreasing since 2011.
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The contribution made by Chinese students to overseas economies is considerable. Per the Association of
International Educators (NAFSA), international students over the 2015-2016 academic year contributed a
combined $32.8 billion to the U.S. economy – roughly 0.18 percent of the country’s GDP. Chinese
constituted 31.9 percent of the 1.04 million international students who were stateside that year. A similar trend
is present in the U.K., where international students generated £25.8 billion ($35.01 million USD) for the country
in 2014-15. During that calendar year, 21.95 percent of international students in the U.K. were Chinese.
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Many universities actively recruit Chinese students. Based on F-1 student visa dataprovided by the
Department of Homeland Security, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Southern
California and Purdue University welcomed more Chinese students in 2014-2015 than any other American
universities. Chinese students have become a big market not only for American universities, but also for
Japanese universities as a band-aid for their enrollment gap issue resulting from the country’s shrinking
population.

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The financial benefit of overseas Chinese students has afforded Beijing a certain degree of leverage over
Taiwan. According to Taiwan’s University Entrance Committee for Mainland Chinese Students, Beijing halved
the amount of students approved to study in Taiwan to just 1,000 students for the 2017-2018 academic year.
This cut has been viewed by some as a response to growing cross-Strait tensions. This policy has hit certain
private institutions particularly hard, such as Tamkang University, which is expected to lose $1.2 million over
the next four years.

International Students Going Abroad and Staying Abroad

China’s ongoing economic development hinges on cultivating its domestic talent in science and technology,
with President Xi Jinping going so far as to describe these sectors as “the main battlefields of the economy.”
Such innovation necessitates that China retains its best and brightest, but this has historically proven difficult
for Beijing. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education reported that 92
percent of Chinese who received science and technology doctorates in the U.S. in 2002 were still on American
soil in 2007. According to a 2013 National Science Foundation report, 85.6 percent of Chinese science and
engineering doctorate students planned to stay in the United States upon completion of their degrees, more so
than recipients from other Asian countries like South Korea (67.9) or Japan (57.6 percent).
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China has taken several steps to reverse the country’s brain drain. Launched in 2008, the Thousand Talents
program offers subsidies and perks for returnees, such as providing guaranteed school placements for their
children. The program also rewards universities for identifying and recruiting top talent back from overseas.
Tech hubs in Shenzhen and Hangzhou have introduced their own local schemes to incentivize Chinese talent
to return home, but these programs have had mixed success. As reported by Dr. David Zweig, director of the
Center on China’s Transnational Relations at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, despite the
Thousand Talents program selectively targeting top-tier scientists, only a few have returned since its inception.

Reasons vary as to why Chinese graduates often prefer to stay abroad rather than return to China. In 2014,
some overseas survey respondents expressed concern that the academic and work environment in
China valued social connections over merit and transparency, as well as worries over the hyper-competitive
Chinese academic system. Others cite Xi’s crackdown on corruption and environmental conditions in China as
factors influencing their decision to remain abroad.

According to the Chinese government, the number of overall returning overseas Chinese students is steadily
rising. In April 2017, the Chinese government reported that 82.3 percent of students who studied abroad
returned to China that year, compared to 72.38 percent in 2012. Some cite increasing visa difficulties and
shrinking job markets in countries like the U.S. and New Zealand as the reason for the growing return

rate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_China
Primary schools[edit]
The institution of primary education in a country as vast as China has been an impressive accomplishment. In
contrast to the 20 percent enrollment rate before 1949, in 1985 about 96 percent of primary school age
children were enrolled in approximately 832,300 primary schools. This enrollment figure compared favorably
with the recorded figures of the late 1960s and early 1970s, when enrollment standards were more egalitarian.
In 1985 the World Bank estimated that enrollments in primary schools would decrease from 136 million in 1983
to 95 million in the late 1990s and that the decreased enrollment would reduce the number of teachers needed.
Qualified teachers, however, would continue to be in demand.
Under the Law on Nine-Year Compulsory Education, primary schools were to be tuition-free and reasonably
located for the convenience of children attending them; students would attend primary schools in their
neighborhoods or villages. Parents paid a small fee per term for books and other expenses such as
transportation, food, and heating. Previously, fees were not considered a deterrent to attendance. Under the
education reform, students from poor families received stipends, and state enterprises, institutions, and other
sectors of society were encouraged to establish their own schools. A major concern was that scarce resources
be conserved without causing enrollment to fall and without weakening of the better schools. In particular, local
governments were told not to pursue middle-school education blindly while primary school education was still
developing, or to wrest money, teaching staff, and materials from primary schools.

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Children usually entered primary school at seven years of age for six days a week, which after regulatory
changes in 1995 and 1997 were changed to five and a half and five days, respectively. The two-semester
school year consisted of 9.5 months, and began on September 1 and March 1, with a summer vacation in July
and August and a winter vacation in January and February. Urban primary schools typically divided the school
week into twenty-four to twenty-seven classes of forty-five minutes each, but in the rural areas, the norm was
half-day schooling, more flexible schedules, and itinerant teachers. Most primary schools had a five-year
course, except in such cities as Beijing and Shanghai, and later other major cities, which had reintroduced six-
year primary schools and accepted children at six and one-half years rather than seven.
The primary-school curriculum consisted of Chinese, mathematics, physical education, music, drawing, and
elementary instruction in nature, history, and geography, combined with practical work experiences around the
school compound. A general knowledge of politics and moral training, which stressed love of the motherland,
love of the party, and love of the people (and previously love of Chairman Mao), was another part of the
curriculum. A foreign language, often English, is introduced in about the third grade. Chinese and mathematics
accounted for about 60 percent of the scheduled class time; natural science and social science accounted for
about 8 percent. Putonghua (common spoken language) was taught in regular schools and pinyin romanization
in lower grades and kindergarten. The Ministry of Education required that all primary schools offer courses
on morality and ethics. Beginning in the fourth grade, students usually had to perform productive labor two
weeks per semester to relate classwork with production experience in workshops or on farms and relate it to
academic study. Most schools had after-hour activities at least one day per week to involve students in
recreation and community service.
By 1980 the percentage of students enrolled in primary schools was high, but the schools reported
high dropout rates and regional enrollment gaps (most enrollees were concentrated in the cities). Only one in
four counties had universal primary education. On the average, 10 percent of the students dropped out
between each grade. During the 1979–83 period, the government acknowledged the "9-6-3" rule, that is, that
nine of ten children began primary school, six completed it, and three graduated with good performance. This
meant that only about 60 percent of primary students actually completed their five-year program of study and
graduated, and only about 30 percent were regarded as having primary-level competence. Statistics in the
mid-1980s showed that more rural girls than boys dropped out of school.
Within the framework of the Law on Nine-Year Compulsory Education and the general trend toward vocational
and technical skills, attempts were made to accommodate and correct the gap between urban and rural
education. Urban and key schools almost invariably operated on a six-day full-time schedule to prepare
students for further education and high-level jobs. Rural schools generally operated on a flexible schedule
geared to the needs of the agricultural seasons and sought to prepare students for adult life and manual labor
in lower-skilled jobs. They also offered a more limited curriculum, often only Chinese, mathematics,
and morals. To promote attendance and allow the class schedule and academic year to be completed,
agricultural seasons were taken into account. School holidays were moved, school days shortened, and full-
time, half-time, and spare-time classes offered in the slack agricultural seasons. Sometimes itinerant teachers
were hired for mountain villages and served one village in the morning, another village in the afternoon.
Rural parents were generally well aware that their children had limited opportunities to further their education.
Some parents saw little use in having their children attend even primary school, especially after the
establishment of the agricultural responsibility system. Under that system, parents preferred that their children
work to increase family income - and withdrew them from school - for both long and short periods of time.
Preschool education[edit]
Preschool education, which began at age three, was another target of education reform in 1985. Preschool
facilities were to be established in buildings made available by public enterprises, production teams, municipal
authorities, local groups, and families. The government announced that it depended on individual organizations
to sponsor their own preschool education and that preschool education was to become a part of the welfare
services of various government organizations, institutes, and state- and collectively operated enterprises.
Costs for preschool education varied according to services rendered. Officials also called for more preschool
teachers with more appropriate training.
Special education[edit]
The 1985 National Conference on Education also recognized the importance of special education, in the form
of programs for gifted children and for slow learners. Gifted children were allowed to skip grades. Slow learners
were encouraged to reach minimum standards, although those who did not maintain the pace seldom reached
the next stage. For the most part, children with severe learning problems and those with handicaps and
psychological needs were the responsibilities of their families. Extra provisions were made for blind and
severely hearing-impaired children, although in 1984 special schools enrolled fewer than 2 percent of all
eligible children in those categories. The China Welfare Fund, established in 1984, received state funding and

8
had the right to solicit donations within China and from abroad, but special education has remained a low
government priority.
Today, China has 1,540 schools for special education, with 375,000 students; more than 1,000 vocational
training institutes for disabled people, nearly 3,000 standard vocational training and education institutes that
also admit disabled people; more than 1,700 training organizations for rehabilitating hearing-impaired children,
with over 100,000 trained and in-training children. In 2004, 4,112 disabled students entered ordinary schools of
higher learning. Of disabled children receiving special education, 63.6 percent of total recruitment numbers and
66.2 percent of enrollment were in ordinary schools or special classes thereof.

Secondary education[edit]
History[edit]

Lists of newly admitted students - complete with their home communities, test scores, and any extra
points they derived due to their ethnicity or family size - posted outside of Linxia High School

Secondary education in China has a complicated history. In the early 1960s, education planners followed a
policy called "walking on two legs," which established both regular academic schools and separate technical
schools for vocational training. The rapid expansion of secondary education during the Cultural Revolution
created serious problems; because resources were spread too thinly, educational quality declined. Further, this
expansion was limited to regular secondary schools; technical schools were closed during the Cultural
Revolution because they were viewed as an attempt to provide inferior education to children of worker and
peasant families.
In the late 1970s, government and party representatives criticized what they termed the "unitary" approach of
the 1960s, arguing that it ignored the need for two kinds of graduates: those with an academic education
(college preparatory) and those with specialized technical education (vocational). Beginning in 1976 with the
renewed emphasis on technical training, technical schools reopened, and their enrollments increased.
In the drive to spread vocational and technical education, regular secondary-school enrollments fell. By 1986
universal secondary education was part of the nine-year compulsory education law that made primary
education (six years) and junior-middle-school education (three years) mandatory. The desire to consolidate
existing schools and to improve the quality of key middle schools was, however, under the education reform,
more important than expanding enrollment.
Junior secondary[edit]
Junior secondary education is more commonly known as (junior) middle school education, it consists the last
three years of nine years compulsory education. Students who live in rural areas are often boarded into
townships to receive their education.[19]
Senior secondary[edit]

Guangdong Experimental High School, one of the key high schools based in Guangzhou, China.

Senior secondary education often refers to three years of high school (or called senior middle school)
education, as from grade 10 to grade 12. Normally, students who have finished six years of primary education
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will continue three more years of academic study in middle schools as regulated by the Compulsory education
law at the age of twelve. This, however, is not compulsory for senior secondary education, where junior
graduates may choose to continue a three-year academic education in academic high schools, which will
eventually lead to university, or to switch to a vocational course in vocational high schools.
Generally, high school years usually have two semesters, starting in September and February. In some rural
areas, operation may be subject to agricultural cycles. The number of lessons offered by a school on a weekly
basis is very subjective, and largely depends on the school's resources. In addition to normal lessons, periods
for private study and extracurricular activity are provided as well. The academic curriculum consists
of Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, History, Ideology & Political
Science, Music, Fine Arts, PE, Technology, Computing etc. Some schools may also offer vocational subjects.
Generally speaking, Chinese, Mathematics and Englishare considered as three main subjects as they will
definitely be examined in Gaokao. In most provinces, students also need to be examined in either natural
sciences, which incorporate Physics, Chemistry and Biology, or social sciences, which
incorporate Geography, History and Ideology & Political Science.
In China, a senior high school graduate will be considered as an educated person, although the majority of
graduates will go on to universities or vocational colleges. Given that the competition for limited university
places is extremely intense, most high schools are evaluated by their academic performance in Gaokao by
parents and students.
Admissions and Zhongkao[edit]
Main article: Senior High School Entrance Examination

Zhongkao (中考), the Senior High School Entrance Examination, is the academic examination held annually in
China to distinguish junior graduates. Generally speaking, students will be tested
in Chinese, Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, Political Science and PE. However, the scoring system
may change, and vary between different areas.
Admission for senior high schools, especially selective high schools, is somewhat similar to the one for
universities in China. Students will go through an application system where they may choose the high schools
at which they wish to study in an order to their preference before the high schools set out their entrance
requirements. Once this is completed and the high schools will announce their requirements based on this
information and the places they will offer in that year. For instance, if the school offers 800 places in that year,
the results offered by the 800th intake student will be the standard requirements. So effectively, this ensures
the school selects the top candidates in all the students who have applied to said school in that academic year.
However, the severe competition only occurs in the very top high schools, normally, most students will have
sufficient results for them to continue their secondary education if they wish to.
There are other official rules of admission in certain top high schools. If a prestigious senior high school wants
to admit 800 students a year, the admissions office ranks students’ scores from highest to lowest and then
selects their first 700 students. The other 100 positions are provided to students who don't meet the
requirement standard but still want to study at that school. These prospects need to pay extra school fees. A
student can't perform badly in zhongkao, if their scores are close to the requirement standard, they could still
study in that top school if they can afford the expenses. Those who study in that high school must also place
maximum 2 points below the standard requirement. Usually, 0.5 points is a standard. For instance, if you are 2
points below the standard requirement, you pay four times as much as the student who gets 0.5 points below
the standard requirement. The admissions of the 100 students which are required to pay the school fees
usually do not get the same admission letters as normal students receive, but they can still study and live with
normal students in the same high school with the same teacher.
Vocational and technical schools[edit]
The "Law on Vocational Education" was issued in 1996. Vocational education embraces higher vocational
schools, secondary skill schools, vestibule schools, vocational high schools, job-finding centers and other adult
skill and social training institutes. To enable vocational education to better accommodate the demands of
economic re-structuring and urbanization, in recent years the government has remodeled vocational education,
oriented towards obtaining employment, and focusing on two major vocational education projects to meet
society's ever more acute demand for high quality, skilled workers. These are cultivating skilled workers
urgently needed in modern manufacture and service industries; and training rural laborers moving to urban
areas. To accelerate vocational education in western areas, the Central Government has used government
bonds to build 186 vocational education centers in impoverished western area counties.
Both regular and vocational secondary schools sought to serve modernization needs. A number of technical
and "skilled-worker" training schools reopened after the Cultural Revolution, and an effort was made to provide
exposure to vocational subjects in general secondary schools (by offering courses in industry, services,
business, and agriculture). By 1985 there were almost 3 million vocational and technical students.

10
Under the educational reform tenets, polytechnic colleges were to give priority to admitting secondary
vocational and technical school graduates and providing on-the-job training for qualified workers. Education
reformers continued to press for the conversion of about 50 percent of upper secondary education into
vocational education, which traditionally had been weak in the rural areas. Regular senior middle schools were
to be converted into vocational middle schools, and vocational training classes were to be established in some
senior middle schools. Diversion of students from academic to technical education was intended to alleviate
skill shortages and to reduce the competition for university enrollment.
Although enrollment in technical schools of various kinds had not yet increased enough to compensate for
decreasing enrollments in regular senior middle schools, the proportion of vocational and technical students to
total senior-middle-school students increased from about 5 percent in 1978 to almost 36 percent in 1985,
although development was uneven. Further, to encourage greater numbers of junior-middle-school graduates
to enter technical schools, vocational and technical school graduates were given priority in job assignments,
while other job seekers had to take technical tests.
In 1987 there were four kinds of secondary vocational and technical schools: 1) technical schools that offered a
four-year, post-junior middle course and two- to three-year post-senior middle training in such fields
as commerce, legal work, fine arts, and forestry; 2) workers' training schools that accepted students whose
senior-middle-school education consisted of two years of training in such trades as carpentry and welding; 3)
vocational technical schools that accepted either junior-or senior-middle-school students for one- to three-year
courses in cooking, tailoring, photography, and other services; and 4) agricultural middle schools that offered
basic subjects and agricultural science.
These technical schools had several hundred different programs. Their narrow specializations had advantages
in that they offered in-depth training, reducing the need for on-the-job training and thereby
lowering learning time and costs. Moreover, students were more motivated to study if there were links between
training and future jobs. Much of the training could be done at existing enterprises, where staff and equipment
was available at little additional cost.
There were some disadvantages to this system, however. Under the Four Modernizations, technically trained
generalists were needed more than highly specialized technicians. Also, highly specialized equipment and staff
were underused, and there was an overall shortage of specialized facilities to conduct training. In addition,
large expenses were incurred in providing the necessary facilities and staff, and the trend in some government
technical agencies was toward more general technical and vocational education.
Further, the dropout rate continued to have a negative effect on the labor pool as upper-secondary-school
technical students dropped out and as the percentage of lower-secondary-school graduates entering the labor
market without job training increased. Occupational rigidity and the geographic immobility of the population,
particularly in rural areas, further limited educational choices.
Although there were 668,000 new polytechnic school enrollments in 1985, the Seventh Five-Year Plan called
for annual increases of 2 million mid-level skilled workers and 400,000 senior technicians, indicating that
enrollment levels were still far from sufficient. To improve the situation, in July 1986 officials from the State
Education Commission, State Planning Commission, and Ministry of Labor and Personnel convened a national
conference on developing China's technical and vocational education. It was decided that technical and
vocational education in rural areas should accommodate local conditions and be conducted on a short-term
basis. Where conditions permitted, emphasis would be placed on organizing technical schools and short-term
training classes. To alleviate the shortage of teachers, vocational and technical teachers' colleges were to be
reformed and other colleges and universities were to be mobilized for assistance. The State Council decision
to improve training for workers who had passed technical examinations (as opposed to unskilled workers) was
intended to reinforce the development of vocational and technical schools.
Expanding and improving secondary vocational education has long been an objective of China's educational
reformers, for vocational schools are seen as those which are best placed to address (by providing trained
workers) the rising needs of the nation's expanding economy, especially its manufacturing and industrial
sectors. Without an educated and trained work force, China cannot have economic, hence social and national,
development. Yet, given a finite, and often quite limited, pot of money for secondary schools, an allocation
competition/conflict necessarily exists between its two sub-sectors: general education and vocational/technical
education. Regardless, an over-enrollment in the latter has been the overall result of the mid-1980s reforms.
Yet firms that must seek workers from this graduate pool have remained unimpressed with the quality of
recruits and have had to rely on their own job-training programs that provide re-education for their newly hired
workers. The public, also, has not been very enthusiastic over vocational secondary education which, unlike
general education, does not lead to the possibility of higher education. The public's perception is that these
schools provide little more than a dead end for their children. Also, vocational institutions are more expensive
to run than their counterparts in general education, and they have not had sufficient money to modernize their
facilities, as China's modernizing national economy demands. By mid-decade of the 21st Century, therefore,

11
academics and policy-makers alike began to question the policy that pours funds into vocational schools that
do not do their intended function.

International education[edit]

Shanghai American School Puxi Campus

As of January 2015, the International Schools Consultancy (ISC)[20] listed China as having 481 international
schools.[21] ISC defines an 'international school' in the following terms "ISC includes an international school if
the school delivers a curriculum to any combination of pre-school, primary or secondary students, wholly or
partly in English outside an English-speaking country, or if a school in a country where English is one of the
official languages, offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country's national curriculum and is
international in its orientation."[21] This definition is used by publications including The Economist.[22] There were
177,400 students enrolled in international schools in 2014.[23]
2013 Nicholas Brummitt, managing director of ISC, reported that there were 338 international schools in
Mainland China as of 2013, with 184,073 students. Slightly more than half of the international schools are in
the major expatriate areas of China: Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong Province, while the remainder are in
other areas.[8] Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have the most international schools while significant
numbers also exist in Shenzhen and Chengdu.[24]
Many international schools in Beijing and Shanghai, in accordance with Chinese law, are only permitted to
enroll students having citizenship in areas other than Mainland China.[8] This is because Mainland Chinese
students are required to have a certain curriculum, and schools that do not include this curriculum are not
permitted to enroll Mainlanders.[24] Mainlander children who hold foreign passports are permitted to attend
these schools.[25] Students from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan may attend international schools for
foreigners.[26] As of 2014, 19 international schools in Beijing are restricted to non-Mainlanders. There are also
schools using international curricula that accept both Mainlander and non-Mainlander students.[24]
By 2004 increased international business operations resulted in an increase of foreigner children. Many of the
original post-1949 international schools used International Baccalaureate and North American curricula. By
2004 many international schools in Beijing and Shanghai using the British curricula had opened.[26] The
number of international schools in 2013 is an increase from 22 international schools in 2001, with a total of 25
times fewer students.[8] By the 2010s many Mainland Chinese parents began sending their children to
international schools which accept Mainland students to increase their children's chances of going
overseas.[8][23]
There is an increasing number of international universities representation in China in recent years,[27] including
but not limited to CEIBS and Yale Center Beijing.[28] Columbia Global Centers Beijing opened in
2009 [29] and Harvard Institute Shanghai opened in 2010.[30] Cornell Global is planning to have presence in both
Beijing and Shanghai.[31] MIT has an innovation node in Hong Kong.[32] Stanford University established an
academic center in Peking University.[33]

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