Taiwan Today

Reforms to Taiwan’s university entrance system are offering students diverse pathways to achieve their academic ambitions.

In early July at the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University (HSNU) in Taipei City, students listened attentively in a darkened auditorium as a teacher ran through chemistry questions on a projector screen. Rather than a one-off interjection into their summer vacations, the seminar was part of a series of optional activities aimed at preparing the pupils for the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT), Taiwan’s primary college entrance examination.

Similar events are held at schools across the country every year to help young people traverse the GSAT. Staged in January, the exam is the main avenue through which students gain admission to Taiwan’s 70 academic and research-oriented universities. Previously comprising five compulsory tests on Chinese, English, math, natural sciences and social sciences, in 2019 the GSAT will for the first time give high schoolers the option of skipping one or more of these. The change is targeted at making college admissions more reflective of natural aptitudes.

Under the previous system, universities typically considered the total score from the five exams. This potentially excluded, for instance, a talented math student from pursuing the subject at tertiary level because of limited knowledge of Chinese or social sciences. With the new structure, universities specify which of the five tests they will consider for their various departments, allowing pupils to drop some if they are not required.

The move is the latest in a succession of reforms to Taiwan’s university admissions process. Commenced in the 1990s, these measures have replaced a single entrance exam with a diverse multichannel system designed to help the maximum number of students reach their academic goals.

Star Performers

“Three or four decades ago, society believed it efficient and fair to use one standard to evaluate all students,” said Hocheng Hong (賀陳弘‬), president of National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City. “Since then, there’s been a paradigm shift toward a pluralistic model of learning and university recruitment.”

As chairman of the Joint Board of College Recruitment Commission (JBCRC) based at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei, Hocheng administers the country’s increasingly flexible admissions environment. It is a role well suited to the scholar, who over the course of his career has implemented some of the most influential changes to the system.

In 2007, NTHU pioneered the revolutionary Stars program and Hocheng, then head of the university’s Office of Student Affairs, oversaw its introduction. Intended to reduce disparities between urban and rural admissions, the process gives top priority to students’ rankings in their schools, determined by their grades across all exams throughout the first two years in senior high.

Prior to its introduction, relatively few pupils from outside the nation’s most prestigious high schools were admitted to top-level universities such as NTU and NTHU. In the inaugural year, the Hsinchu-based institution enrolled around 150 freshmen from 32 schools around the country through Stars, which has since been adopted across the university system.

According to Hocheng, the initiative was designed under the principle that all high schools should be treated equally. This approach was spearheaded by then NTHU President Shu Hsia-san (徐遐生) and educational psychologist Samuel Peng (彭森明). Prior to serving as a chair professor at the university, Peng spent more than two decades working for the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education. An influential survey he conducted of university students in the U.S. revealed that classroom grades in senior high school were the most significant indicator of academic performance at tertiary level, topping factors like family background and SAT scores.

“This finding was a great inspiration for me,” Hocheng said. “It showed that students who excel in senior high school will continue to shine at university because they have qualities like learning motivation and time management.” A JBCRC survey of the academic performance of some 400,000 students admitted to Taiwan’s universities from 2011 to 2014 similarly found that Stars enrollees outperformed those who gained entry through other processes.

Wang Hsiou-huai (王秀槐), a professor in the Center for Teacher Education at NTU, conducted a study of the Stars students at her university with the goal of explaining their superior results at tertiary level. Her data and interviews suggest they possess a clearer sense of mission as well as greater diligence toward their class work.

“Their exceptional performance at senior high school established considerable self-confidence and a distinct orientation toward academic pursuits,” Wang said. “In essence, a big fish in a small pond doesn’t become a small fish in a big one.” The professor also commended Stars as an effective way of encouraging students to enroll in their local senior high schools rather than traveling long distances to higher profile alternatives.

Multiple Channels

In addition to Stars, Taiwan’s college entrance system offers students two other major pathways to academic and research-oriented universities. Under the Personal Application Process, they can apply to a maximum of six college departments using their GSAT scores. If successful, they will typically be asked to present a portfolio documenting extracurricular activities and results in various academic and sporting competitions as well as attend an interview before gaining admission.

Pupils who fail to obtain a place at a preferred college using this approach can take the Advanced Subjects Test (AST). Staged in summer, this spans a total of 10 exams, with students typically opting to sit between three and six depending on the requirements and weightings given to the assessments by their desired university department. About 30 percent of college students gain admission through the AST, with around 15 percent using the Stars program and most of the remainder qualifying through the personal application system.

This year, the Ministry of Education also formally launched another channel enabling students who demonstrate exceptional skills in certain subjects to apply to university departments in those fields without sitting the GSAT. Conducted on a trial basis for the past three years, the program accounted for 1 percent of admissions in 2018.

According to Wang Shu-li (王淑麗), principal of HSNU, the development of diverse application options represents significant progress in promoting educational and social justice. “Students have different personalities and strengths and it’s only appropriate that individual abilities and practical competencies be taken into account,” she said.

Lio Mon-chi (劉孟奇‬), president of the NTU-headquartered College Entrance Examination Center, which oversees the drafting and delivery of the GSAT and AST, said the elimination of the single exam system has reduced pressure on students. “The tests are also being reformed to make them more reflective of everyday experiences and college curriculums,” he added.

In recent years, Taiwan’s university entrance exams have included topics not necessarily featured in textbooks. Examples include a question from the latest GSAT natural sciences test evaluating students’ ability to interpret typhoon meteorological data. And a physics question on the July AST asked students to apply theories they studied in class to explain the working of common items like ear thermometers and microwave ovens.

“The tests now require comprehensive understanding and application of basic concepts,” Lio said. “If it’s impossible to get rid of exams entirely, then we should at least improve them so that they promote more effective ways of learning and teaching.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw