Shengsi County (also known as the Shengsi Archipelago), a county under the jurisdiction of Zhoushan City in Zhejiang Province, has announced the cancellation of the high school entrance exam and will allow all students to advance directly to high school. This educational reform topped online trending lists over the weekend. The county’s Education Bureau stated that the move to cancel the selective function of the entrance exam was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a practical measure to tackle the challenges of educational development in a small county, aimed at better utilizing existing educational resources and retaining local students.
According to reports from National Business Daily, Poster News, and others, the news of the "small county canceling the high school entrance exam and granting all students direct admission to high school" climbed to the top of the online trending list on Sunday (June 14).
According to reports, in 2025, the Shengsi Archipelago will launch a bold educational reform, completely canceling the selective function of the high school entrance exam and implementing universal direct advancement to high school. The move has made waves nationwide, as this small island county with a permanent population of just 65,000 quickly became the center of nationwide attention.
Local elders noted that the island’s unique environment brings many inconveniences to work and life. Over the years, more and more young people have left to pursue studies or work elsewhere, leading to a steady decline in the school-age population. Across the entire county, there is only one provincially recognized model high school—Zhejiang Shengsi High School. Even so, regular high school spots are not in short supply. In recent years, about 300 ninth-grade graduates finish school in Shengsi County annually.
Against this background, the traditional selection-based high school entrance exam appears ill-suited. Previously, the high school admission rate was about 70%, meaning some students missed out on general high school admission by just a few points; some thus entered vocational schools early, while others traveled to study outside the islands, further intensifying the outflow of students. Over time, this could easily create a vicious cycle: “population decline—loss of students—weakened education.”
A staff member at the Shengsi County Education Bureau revealed: “The removal of the selective function of the entrance exam is not a momentary whim, but a pragmatic measure to tackle the educational development difficulties in a small county.”
This staff member noted that the core logic of the local education reform is to adapt to the island’s realities, optimize existing education resources, and retain local students, rather than simply rejecting the high school entrance exam system.
According to local official statistics, after the new entrance exam policy was implemented, the proportion of county students leaving to study elsewhere in the fall semester of 2025 dropped by nearly 10 percentage points compared to five years ago. Many families that had previously moved away have chosen to return, and the years-long trend of student outflow has eased. This seemingly disruptive reform is, at heart, a desperate attempt by a small island county under pressure to safeguard the foundations of its local education.
The local Education Bureau staff explained: “After entering high school, students will still be streamed in Grade 10. In the integrated general-vocational class, both vocational and general high school content will be taught. Based on their circumstances, students who feel they cannot keep up may transfer to vocational technical schools.”
On January 26 this year, a staff member of the Shengsi County Education Bureau responded to the cancellation of the entrance exam, clarifying that the entrance exam itself is not being scrapped; students are still required to take the test, but its score-based selection function is being downplayed.
National Business Daily analysis suggests that while Shengsi’s approach is highly valuable as a reference point within China, it is also a unique case that cannot be easily replicated. On one hand, newcomers settle here; on the other, local youths continue to leave. This is Shengsi’s unique challenge, which is also why high school entrance exam reforms like theirs are difficult to implement elsewhere.
First, the population is extremely small, with only two to three hundred ninth-grade graduates annually. The single general high school can easily accommodate all, and there is no shortage of places.
Second, the educational structure is straightforward, with only one general high school and one vocational high school in the county, avoiding competition among schools and the scramble for high-quality spots.
Third, the longstanding issue is student outflow, so the reform’s core demand is “keeping students.” This contrasts sharply with the “selecting students” demand in populous provinces or regions with tight educational resources.
The exploration by this small county provides a sample solution for other small counties tackling educational difficulties and easing advancement anxiety, and also offers important ideas for nationwide high school entrance exam reform.