Top Chinese universities no longer require English
March 18, 2013
In the past, many top Chinese universities have required students to pass an English test as a pre-requisite. However, times have changed as for most of China's major state universities, prospective science and engineering majors now only need to pass entrance exams in math and physics. Art students will be required to take Chinese and math exams.
In China, independent college entrance exams are held three months before national exams. This year, 27 Chinese universities will be holding requirement exams simultaneously.
The 27 universities are divided into three different leagues. The Peking University league contains 11 universities such as Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong University. The Tsinghua league consists of seven universities, including the University of Science and Technology of China. The BIT league contains nine schools such as the Harbin Institute of Technology.
Yu Han, an enrollment officer at Tsinghua University, told China Daily that the English test was eliminated in order to reduce new students' study time and help them stay focused on their course majors. It should also attract more students skilled in the targeted subjects.
Those interested in the change can make calls to China using prepaid phone cards.