Summary
A recent report on Sino-foreign joint institutes provides some interesting insight regarding these institutes' entry requirements for Gaokao candidates. This is a strong indicator of the popularity of these programmes as most university entrants in China are judged solely on Gaokao scores. Based on data from 32 joint institutes without independent legal entity which have recruited undergraduate students for at least the last three years, the report has found that Gaokao score requirements for joint institutes are still substantially lower than at the parent Chinese university, but the size of the gap is falling.
In the 2019 entry cycle the average Gaokao score for new entrants at these 32 joint institutes was a little over 21 points lower than the parent university, but this has shrunk from 22 points in 2018 and 27 points in 2017. Meanwhile, the average entry score for these joint institutes overall was 25 points above the Tier 1 baseline for the relevant province.
The report also notes that this average masks significant differences between different joint institutes. 19 of the 49 undergraduate joint institutes for which data is available in 2019 - or around 39 per cent of the total - actually had higher Gaokao entry requirements than their parent Chinese university, even before considering any additional requirements like English proficiency.
Other information in the report includes a discussion of enrolment, with over 100,000 students enrolled in joint institutes in the current academic year, and the universities and provinces in which these institutes are located. All data in the report refers to joint institutes without independent legal entity, i.e. excluding individual joint programmes as well as joint universities such as Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University or the University of Nottingham Ningbo.
Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, British Council International Education Services
As well as measuring students' academic ability, average Gaokao scores are a strong indicator of the attractiveness of undergradaute programmes in China. Entry to most courses is based entirely on the applicant's Gaokao score, and even though joint institutes also set other requirements such as English proficiency, these additional requirements are on a pass/fail basis with students that meet these minimum requirements competing against each other based only on Gaokao performance.
The narrowing gap between average gaokao scores for joint institutes and regular domestic programmes shows that joint institutes are becoming more attractive to Chinese students. Nevertheless, UK universities should bear in mind that the continuing 21-point gap shows that most students would still prefer to study a domestic degree course at the host university - probably due to the higher cost and language requirements of an international programme.
Source
Sino-Foreign Education Cooperation Online: 2019 quality analysis report of Sino-foreign joint institutes without independent legal entity (in Chinese) - https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xtTGsMnmI1gkW677sCyEpQ