An Analysis and Comparison Between the Chinese GaoKao System and the A-Level System in the UK: Challenges and Improvements

The majority of students in China, who need to attend Gaokao to be admitted by universities, are not facing the same opportunities. They are strictly required to study specific subjects, no matter students are good and interested at or not. In addition, universities are not admitting students purely according to their talents, instead factors like region, family, which field they want to study in the future do matter. This study will discuss such situation of Chinese Gaokao and make a comparison with the education system in the UK. It also mentions current government policies for extra points that are originally for higher fairness, but they are not fair anymore in current circumstances. This study also gives advices to government and universities on how to make improvement on current education system. The results of this study provides a scientific basis for decision makers to make more rational and effective decisions. It is of great significance to the government, related departments and most importantly, Chinese students.