Middle-class Chinese parents have reacted with concern to news that universities in Macau plan to ban applications from mainland students who did not take the gaokao, China’s national college-entrance exams.

A growing number of Chinese families have chosen to send their children to expensive international schools in recent years, so that they can avoid the grueling and highly competitive gaokao system.

But these students are now facing growing barriers, as universities in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau become increasingly concerned about widespread cheating among non-gaokao applicants.

Universities on the Chinese mainland require all domestic applicants to take the gaokao. But institutions in Hong Kong and Macau traditionally allowed applications from students with other qualifications, such as the international baccalaureate (IB).

These universities became popular choices for Chinese international school students as a result. But several institutions have complained about a growing problem with mainland students applying using falsified exam documents.

Though the gaokao has its own issues with cheating, insiders say it is far easier to circumvent the rules in international exam systems such as the IB or international A-levels. 

That is because, unlike in the gaokao system, schools are allowed to operate their own test centers. Students can also submit their exam results to universities themselves, whereas gaokao candidates have to ask the Ministry of Education to do so on their behalf.

Hong Kong has yet to announce sweeping measures to clamp down on the problem. But Macau, which is less dependent on tuition fees from mainland students, is taking a tougher approach, with several universities issuing outright bans on applications from non-gaokao students.

Last Friday, the University of Macau announced it would only accept applications from mainland students who had taken the gaokao starting from next year. Hours later, the Macau University of Science and Technology updated its admissions guidelines to remove options for mainland students applying using international qualifications.

The announcements have received a mixed response in China. One media outlet described the bans as a “shock to international high school students and their parents.” But some commenters on social media spoke out in favor of the change, arguing that it simply underlined the value of the gaokao.

There is also some relief that it is Macau rather than Hong Kong introducing a ban. Macau’s universities host far fewer students from the mainland than those in Hong Kong, meaning the changes will have little immediate impact on international school students.

A representative from an international school in the eastern city of Nanjing, for example, told local media that only a handful of their students — likely fewer than 10 — applied to universities in Macau each year. That is because universities in Macau tend to set high admission thresholds.

“With the same grades, students can gain admission to higher-ranked universities in Hong Kong,” the person said.

Concerns about cheating in the higher education system have been growing in Hong Kong and Macau as the number of mainland applicants obtaining international qualifications has ballooned over the past few years.

Families have not only been sending children to Chinese international schools in growing numbers, but also to high schools overseas. The number of study abroad agencies has shot up since 2017 especially.

Nearly 10,000 such agencies were registered on the Chinese business database Tianyancha last year alone, a year-over-year increase of 27.5%.

Reports about falsified international qualifications have also been on the rise. One agent told Sixth Tone that it was possible to obtain a forged score report for the U.S. Advanced Placement (AP) exam for 100,000 yuan ($13,700) per subject.

“Certain agencies might have connections with schools, and when a school operates its own dedicated test site, the potential for manipulation increases significantly,” the agent explained, though he added that only a limited number of agencies have the resources to execute such schemes. 

Earlier this month, a couple told domestic media that they had paid an agent 700,000 yuan to help their child get into the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The agent succeeded, but the family later discovered that they had done so using a number of fake documents, including a falsified IB score.

The deception ultimately led to the student being expelled by the University of Hong Kong after one year of study.

According to domestic media reports, several agencies have issued promotional materials promising “guaranteed admissions” and “background-free, zero-barrier admissions.”

In November, the Macau University of Science and Technology uncovered 24 cases of mainland students applying using falsified Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) scores.

Earlier this year, HKU’s Faculty of Business and Economics discovered that 30 mainland students had been admitted with fake credentials, which included fabricated transcripts, graduation certificates, and recommendation letters.

In July, a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council reportedly called on universities to tighten their application procedures to prevent students falsifying their academic qualifications.

However, there have so far been no reports that Hong Kong’s universities are considering an outright ban on non-gaokao students. The agent told Sixth Tone that such a move was unlikely to happen in Hong Kong, as the city’s universities depend on revenues from mainland students.

(Header image: VCG)