Deep Thinking On China’s College Entrance Exam System

The National College Entrance Examination (the Examination) has a profound influence on China’s society, economically, culturally and socially. In order to improve the Examination system as well as to achieve greater satisfaction of the people concerning the Examination, fairness issues appear to be the most urgent problems that need to be resolved. With the nation-wide expansion of college enrollment and the universal awareness of the importance of education, audiences of higher education has transited from elite groups to mass population, which promotes public demands for education to a higher-quality, higher-standard level, moreover, brings public attention toward the Examination onto unprecedented heights.This thesis discusses the history and current situation of China’s National College Entrance Examination system, applying with’institutional change theory’of Douglass C. North and’principles of justice’of John Rawls as theoretical support. This thesis analyzes the rationality as well as defectiveness pertaining to the Examination, starting with affirming the merits and the irrefutable contribution of the Examination system in China’s education history and development, followed by sorting out main problems of current Examination system in China. Combining the innovative measures in high education enrollment policies taken by some foreign countries with the status quo of China, the author puts forward a series of reform proposals, including extending independent enrollment rights of universities, reducing regional differences during the Examination enrollment process, taking integrated measures to ensure the success of the Examination reform and so forth. This thesis provides convincible proofs, radical proposals and new perspectives regarding the Examination reform issues.