A Comparative Study of College Entrance Examination between China and the UK

Abstract

The reform of China's new college entrance examination (CEE) is one of the key topics of current research. Some researchers found that there is still a gap between the ideal and the reality of the current CEE reform, but there is still a lack of unified explanation for the details. Therefore, this paper elaborates on the mode of CEE in China and the UK, advantages and disadvantages of CEE reform between China and the UK, and the orientation of China’s CEE reform and the UK’s CEE reform. By comparing the CEE in China and the UK, this study finds that there are still many deficiencies in the implementation of the reform of the national CEE in China. For instance, the problem of inadequate instructional resources in the shift system, students do not have absolute autonomy in choosing subjects and so on. The CEE in China can take lessons from the UK’s CEE in terms of the selection of examination subjects, composition of the CEE, and the implementation of “shift system” on the premise of meeting China's actual conditions, and constantly improve the reform of the national CEE in China.