Chinese families now know more about overseas education, and they have more money to pay for it, leading to a decline in the average age of overseas students. According to the Center for China and Globalization, a nonprofit think tank, in 2010, nearly 20 per cent of all Chinese overseas students held an academic certificate below the high school level. But in 2011, the figure had risen to 22.6 per cent. Those taking the TOEFL exam (an English language test) and the SAT (a college admissions exam widely used in the US) are becoming younger, with many now aged under 18. Fan Meng, director of the North America exams department of New Oriental Education and Technology Group, a leading test preparation company in China, has observed the rising number of younger students in the company's prep classes for high school and college admissions exams. Students aged under 18 taking the TOEFL test increased 30 per cent last year from 2011, he said. Reports China Daily