High school entrance exam will remain, education authorities clarify

Education authorities in Chengdu, Sichuan province and Shanghai have clarified recent online claims suggesting that the high school entrance exam, or zhongkao, would be abolished in some pilot programs.

Authorities stated that the new educational reforms focus on integrated training models combing middle school with high schools but do not equate to canceling zhongkao, a crucial academic assessment.

In Chengdu, the education bureau recently announced that starting in 2025, a 12-year coherent training program will be introduced in eight selected pilot schools. Under the program, students enrolled in specific continuous education classes may proceed without taking the zhongkao, though they retain the option to exit the program and take the exam if desired.

The bureau emphasized that the pilot is limited in scope — involving only eight schools — and is not a citywide cancellation of the zhongkao. The reform is designed to build a consistent educational pathway from primary through high school, shifting the emphasis from exam scores to holistic development.

Similarly, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission responded to public inquiries regarding its newly released plan for improving high school education quality, which also includes piloting a longer-term coherent training model.

The commission explained that the approach aims to unify curriculum design and optimize resource sharing across different school stages, but it does not mean abolishing the zhongkao. Facing fluctuating waves of secondary school-age populations, the city aims to optimize resource allocation by developing integrated secondary schools combining middle schools with high schools, the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

This flexible approach helps manage enrollment fluctuations while promoting cross-campus sharing of facilities like labs, libraries and specialized courses — making educational resources both efficient and adaptable, it said.

Abolishing the zhongkao has been a long-term demand for many parents who fear that their children would be forced to enter vocational schools if they did not perform well in the exam.

In fact, public concerns regarding the diversion between regular and vocational education mainly stem from the perception that students have limited prospects once they enter vocational schools. There has long been a stigma attached to vocational education, often labeled as inferior education or education for those eliminated from the academic track.

However, education authorities have reiterated that it would not abolish the exam, and vocational education is an important part of the overall education system.

In 2022, Chen Ziji, then head of the department of vocational and adult education at the Ministry of Education, said the diversion of students to vocational and regular education is necessary, as vocational education plays a vital role in diversifying higher secondary education.

It offers varied pathways for students with different strengths and supports employment and regional development, he said.

The Ministry of Education is working to enhance the quality and appeal of vocational programs while promoting better integration between educational tracks, he said.

Xiong Bingqi, president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, clarified that recent education pilot programs in Chengdu and Shanghai are being misinterpreted by the public. While these reforms introduce integrated training models, they do not signal the elimination of zhongkao.

He emphasized that while the reforms provide families with more educational options, they do not fundamentally change the competitive nature of high school admissions, particularly for top-tier schools.

He noted that removing the zhongkao would require deeper structural reforms, including eliminating the hierarchical ranking of schools and bridging the gap between regular and vocational education.

He further emphasized that the current reforms should be viewed as incremental improvements rather than fundamental systemic changes.

"The public's anticipation to abolish the zhongkao is understandable, but it requires establishing a more balanced high school education system first," Xiong noted.

He added that the revised Law on Vocational Education in 2022 has defined vocational education as a parallel type rather than a lower-level pathway of regular education, which calls for more integration among the two education types.