Beijing University on Thursday denied a senior high school graduate for lies about his ethnicity in order to get extra points in the national college admission test, though his test results qualified him for the country's top school.

He Chuanyang, who scored the highest in the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, was denied admission by Beijing University, his parents said Thursday.

The university's admission office confirmed the denial, saying it was following rules set by the Ministry of Education.

"We checked all the facts [about He's lying] and therefore decided to turn down his application," said Liu Mingli, head of the university's admission office. "We hope he will not make such mistakes again and be an honest person. We're ready to welcome him in the future."

Liu said the school would deny all other students involved in cheating scandals, too.

Beijing University was the only school He Chuanyang had chosen. The denial would most probably mean he had to take the test against next year.

He Chuanyang, a graduate of Nankai Senior High School, topped Chongqing's honor roll this year after scoring 659 points in the college admission test. He could have received, but did not get, 20 additional points if local authorities had not uncovered falsified documents on his ethnicity.

The boy's mother, Lu Linqiong, held the denial was unfair. "It was a mistake we made three years ago -- he was only 14 and knew nothing of our decision."

Lu said she and her husband just followed other families' suit to change the boy's ethnicity to Tujia minority group from the majority Han in July 2006.

Ethnicity is an important detail to be included in all official documents. Ethnic minorities often enjoy preferential treatment in college admission, recruitment to the People's Liberation Army and sometimes in job hunting.

Lu said her son's case was much publicized only because he had done exceptionally well in the test. "Had he not scored so high his name wouldn't have been posted on the Internet and Beijing University wouldn't have faced so much pressure."

He Chuanyang was one of the 31 students involved in the ethnicity cheating scandal, uncovered by city authorities in mid June upon citizens' complaints, but the other students' names were not published.

The cheating scandal has caused Lu to be temporarily removed from her post as deputy head of the CPC Wushan County Committee's organization department.

The boy's father, He Yeda, has also been removed from his post as head of Wushan County's college admission office.

The couple's friend Wan Minqiang, now chairman of the county science commission, was also sacked for helping with the cheating when he was head of the county's ethnic and religious affairs bureau.

He Chuanyang has stayed out of the public eye since the scandal was revealed. His parents said he was "saddened and speechless" at Beijing University's denial.

He can still apply to other universities. However Chongqing education authorities did not say Thursday whether the boy would be disqualified altogether for this year's admission. "Admission would start on July 9, and by then you'll find the answer," an official said on condition of anonymity.

He's mother, meanwhile, said she would be very happy if other universities, either in the interior regions or Hong Kong, would admit the boy.

China's national college admission test, or "gao kao", has been a fierce competition since it was resumed in 1977 after the 10-year Cultural Revolution.

Though it's easier nowadays to enter college -- with 10.2 million candidates competing for 6.29 million seats this year, compared with 5.7 million for 270,000 places in 1977, competition remains white-hot as most students eye top universities.

As a result, a string of scandals about cheating, leaking exam papers or even buying into universities have been reported in recent years.

The Ministry of Education said 2,219 students were found cheating during this year's exam alone.

Last month, four people in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were sentenced to three to five years for selling falsified papers to parents and bribing police officers into changing students ethnic status to minorities.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2009)