Summary

Eight Chinese provincial-level regions have announced a significant change to the structure of their Gaokao university entrance examinations for students sitting the exam in 2021. All eight had been due to introduce a revised "3+3" format of the examination in 2021, which was first trialled in Shanghai and Zhejiang in 2017 and allows students to take three compulsory subjects plus three optional subjects from a list of six. However they have now announced that they will instead adopt a "3+1+2" format where students must study either physics or history as well as two of the remaining four optional subjects.

The eight provinces that have announced the change are Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and Chongqing. Six other provinces and municipalities - Shanghai, Zhejiang, Beijing, Hainan, Shandong and Tianjin - will continue to offer the 2017-format Gaokao in 2021, while the remaining 17 provincial-level regions still use the unreformed pre-2017 Gaokao structure.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, International Education Services

The change brings the Gaokao in these provinces closer to the pre-2017 Gaokao format - still in use in most provinces - which divided students between separate Sciences and Humanities papers. It is likely intended to address an imbalance in students' subject choices, with physics seen as the least popular option by a large margin. This imbalance was cited by local media as a major reason why a number of provinces decided to delay the introduction of the new-format Gaokao as reported in previous IES news updates.

The imbalance has been blamed on the curve-based grading system in the new Gaokao, with scores depending on a candidate's position relative to other students. Physics is seen as attracting the smartest students which means it is perceived as harder for average students to earn a good score in this subject. An alternative solution, adopted by Zhejiang starting from the 2020 session, is to calculate grading curves for less-popular papers based on an assumed minimum number of candidates even if the true number is lower.

UK universities that consider Gaokao results when recruiting Chinese students should be aware of these upcoming changes and the differences between gaokao exams across various parts of China. As well as looking at candidates' scores, domestic Chinese universities typically require students who have taken the new-format Gaokao to have taken certain subjects. For example, a physics degree course would only recruit students who have chosen physics as one of their gaokao options, while other programmes might require candidates to have studied at least one science subject.

Sources

Ministry of Education - Eight provinces release comprehensive reform plan for college entrance examination for students entering high school from Autumn 2018 (in Chinese): http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/s5987/201904/t20190424_379274.html

British Council International Education Services - China's new-format university entrance exam roll-out faces delays (November 2018): https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/chinas-new-format-university-entrance-exam-roll-out-faces-delays