According to the pilot reform plan for the college entrance exam (gaokao), students can choose three optional subjects in addition to compulsory English, Mathematics and Chinese courses to include in their final score. Many universities have recently published their required subjects for students from the pilot provinces of Shanghai and Zhejiang, who will be the first to take the reformed exam in 2017.

Universities can list up to three subjects for each course, at least one of which must be included in the prospective applicant's gaokao score. The optional subjects in Shanghai are Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography and Politics; Zhejiang also has Technology as a seventh optional subject. Of 1,400 universities that have published their requirements for Zhejiang, around 900 have specified subject requirements for at least some of their courses, while overall 46 per cent of courses have subject requirements; for the remaining 54 per cent, students can enrol regardless of their gaokao subjects.

For students from Shanghai, more than half of HE courses with these requirements require a single science of the student's choice, accepting candidates who have studied either Physics, Chemistry or Biology. Among courses that list two possible requirements a choice between Physics and Chemistry is the most common, while Physics is the most common for courses that require a single specific subject.

Similarly for students from Zhejiang, almost three quarters of courses allow a choice of three subjects, while 17 per cent offer a choice of two and 11 per cent require a specific subject. Again, Physics is the most common, meeting the requirements for 81 per cent of courses that set requirements; Chemistry is the second most commonly required, followed by Biology and Technology. Less than 20 per cent of doors are opened by History, Geography or Politics.

Analysis by Liu Jing, Assistant Director Education Marketing

• The “3+3” exam arrangement is already causing a certain degree of turmoil among parents, students, schools and higher education institutions. In Shanghai, an increasing number of students - particularly students who are strong in Science related subjects - are considering overseas undergraduate studies. Key reasons include uncertainty over whether Gaokao reform would be successful and the likely extra study burden imposed on students because many of them will have to prepare all the 3+6 courses as they have not yet decided which subject and which university they should apply for. Meanwhile, schools are struggling with how they should organise their teaching work to improve the overall student performance, while higher education institutions are also struggling with how to set their subject requirements to recruit targeted students without affecting the overall number of applicants.

• After-school and holiday classes to help students to enhance their scores, especially in hot subjects such as Physics and Chemistry, will see more market demand. The international element could be a “plus” for these courses and students might also want to get involved in more international education activities or courses to enhance their overall assessment result.

• Analysing the academic proficiency test subject requirements set by higher education institutions can provide a clearer picture of subject development priorities at different Chinese universities, which could help UK institutions to conduct their partnership development in a more subject-specific and tailored way. Meanwhile, looking at the subjects chosen by students can give insights into students' demands in different schools, cities and provinces and allow for more targeted marketing. For institutions that take gaokao scores into account when recruiting Chinese students, the reformed exam will be able to provide a better idea of students' subject strengths.

Source: http://hznews.hangzhou.com.cn/kejiao/content/2015-03/01/content_5666467.htm