Gaokao migration

A Gaokao site in China, 2022.

Gaokao migration refers to the practice of students and their families relocating or altering residency and school registration to take advantage of regional disparities in China's college entrance examination system. This phenomenon includes both legal actions, such as genuine relocations to change their household registration and comply with national education policies, and illegal methods, such as falsifying documents to change their household registration (“Hukou”), to gain higher chances of admission to better universities.

Background

The chart illustrates the significant regional disparities in access to high-quality universities in China.

The intent behind migrating for Gaokao is that not only does the difficulty of the Gaokao vary from province to province, but universities also have different quotas for each specific province. Peking University for instance has enrollment quotas in their admission guidelines where the number of high school graduates per province is taken into consideration. This problem is especially prevalent when universities tend to favor students coming from the province that the university itself is located in, and because of the uneven distribution of top universities across provinces in China, students tend to migrate to those areas that have these top universities. Another factor driving the urge to migrate is the significant variation in competition levels across provinces. Certain regions, like Henan, have an overwhelming number of Gaokao candidatess—over 1.25 million—making the process highly competitive. This intense competition results in relatively lower acceptance rates into "Project 985" universities compared to provinces with fewer candidatess. A recent study highlights this disparity: Henan’s acceptance rate is just 0.84%, while in Beijing, where only 52,000 students take the exam, the acceptance rate rises to 6%.

Table showing students in Beijing and Shanghai having a higher acceptance rate than Henan and Gansu.

This is further supported by another study where students in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, have a higher chance of getting into Tsinghua University and “211” universities––another league of elite universities but not as prestigious as the “985” universities––than those residing in rural areas like Henan and Gansu.

Migration patterns

Gaokao migration in China can be categorized into three main patterns, reflecting regional disparities in educational resources, university admission quotas, and exam competitiveness. These patterns highlight how families strategically relocate to optimize their children’s chances of accessing higher education.

The map shows the distribution of notable high-quality universities across Mainland China.

Migration to developed cities with lower admission scores

Families relocate to economically developed cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, where top universities allocate a higher number of admission quotas for local students.

Migration to provinces with moderate competition

Students and families relocate to provinces such as Jiangxi and Hainan, where economic development is moderate, and university admission scores are relatively lower compared to highly competitive regions like Shandong and Henan.

Migration to underdeveloped western regions

Families migrate to underdeveloped western regions, such as Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Gansu, which are characterized by lower economic development and educational levels.

Cases

Some students at Fuyuan School in Shenzhen province have been disqualified from the Gaokao registration because they are identified as "Gaokao migrants".

In 2019, Shenzhen Fuyuan School became the center of a major controversy involving Gaokao migration after local authorities discovered irregularities in its students’ education registrations. Investigations revealed that some students had transferred from other provinces, such as Hebei, and registered for the Gaokao using Guangdong household registrations. Many of these students, including some from Hengshui High School, a renowned institution known for its rigorous academic training, attended Fuyuan School through an exchange program. They used Guangdong’s exam policies to gain potential advantages despite not being genuine residents of the province. A mock exam further exposed the issue when over a tenth of the top ten students were identified as transfers. Although Shenzhen’s education bureau later confirmed that these students met formal registration requirements, the case highlighted systemic loopholes and raised broader concerns about fairness in the highly competitive Gaokao exam system.

Government responses

In 2016, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a notice on effectively addressing the Gaokao migration.

Notice of the Ministry of Education and Public Security on the comprehensive treatment of "Gaokao migrants".