This year 9.15 million students will sit the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, on Thursday and Friday, with an expected average admission rate of 75 percent, the Ministry of Education said, Xinhua reported.

According to the ministry, the number of national exam participants has fallen 2 percent from last year, while the admission rate has increased by 3 percent.

This drop in exam participants and the rising of the admission rate have been trends since 2008.

The falling number of gaokao participants is in line with the decline in the number of people under 18, but studying overseas is also regarded as a reason.

(China.org.cn June 7, 2012)

据新华社报道，教育部透露，今年将有915万学生于周四、周五参加高考，预计平均录取率达75%。

今年全国高考人数比去年降了2%，但录取率却上涨了3个百分点。

实际上，从2008年起就一直存在参考人数下降、录取率上升的情况。

高考人数减少要归咎于18岁以下的学生数量越来越少，另外，不少人选择出国留学也是原因之一。