Gaokao gives students overseas opportunities

"In mid-2000, the government noticed the number of Chinese undergraduate students was increasing, so research was done on the best way to accept students from China," Chui said.

But Zhang Weiyong, director of the US division of Golden Orient, an overseas study consultancy in Beijing, said there are few Chinese students applying to study overseas after their gaokao test scores are available, as very little time is left to deal with issues such as school applications and visa interviews.

"Generally, Chinese students who want to study at universities in the US, especially some prestigious ones, would start preparing for the application at least a year in advance, so that by the time of the gaokao they would have received admission letters from their dream schools and therefore would skip the domestic exam," Zhang said.

In Zhang's eyes, only two types of Chinese students would try to apply for universities overseas after their gaokao scores are available: excellent ones who accidentally failed the exam so that they can't gain admission to their dream domestic universities or majors, and those with weak academic performances during high school and low gaokao scores.

Under such circumstances, Zhang suggested students make the decision of whether to apply for universities overseas with gaokao scores according to their own needs and conditions.

"After all, there are not many universities - at least in the US - that admit Chinese students based on their gaokao results," Zhang said.

"Not all the students would like to surrender to the limited choice."

However, Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said it's difficult for gaokao results to become a major part of the criteria for large numbers of universities overseas, especially some of the most selective ones.

"Top universities across the world usually adopt a comprehensive, diversified and scientific approach to evaluate students," he said.

"I'm afraid that the results of Chinese gaokao, which has been criticized for its dull and unscientific way of measuring students' academic performances and abilities, will not be widely accepted."