Tsinghua makes it easier to take entrance exam

Tsinghua University is taking measures to make its independent recruitment more convenient for students.

The university is taking the lead to open examination halls across the country for students who take preliminary tests for its independent recruitment programs, Yu Shijie, director of the university's recruitment office, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

According to Yu, each province or region of China, except for Tibet, will have a place for students to take the tests. Students from Tibet can choose test sites that are convenient for them, such as Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, or Xining, capital of Qinghai province.

"Those who have financial difficulty doing that will receive support from the university," Yu said.

The initiative seeks to enable students, especially those from remote and impoverished areas, to choose the nearest place to take the tests in accordance with their own needs. That keeps themfrom rushing between provinces and regions to take the independent recruitment tests of different universities, Yu said.

Chinese universities' practice of independent recruitment started in 2003 to allow universities to select talent through their own tests before the annual national college entrance exams, or gaokao.

The tests are usually held at the university, and students who applied at several different universities had to spend a lot of time and money going back and forth among them.

Reform in the independent recruitment practice started at the end of 2014, when the Ministry of Education released a series of guidelines requiring that the independent recruitment tests be held after gaokao and that universities should give more opportunities and options to students.

To make that happen, Yu said Tsinghua University will hold preliminary tests for its independent recruitment on June 12. That way, students can also take the tests of many other universities, which will be held between June 13 and 15.

The Tsinghua tests will include physics, math and logic, as well as reading and expression. Those who pass the preliminary selection will take a second-round test on June 16 and 17, and the final results will be announced on June 22, Yu said.