The ministry of education introduced the “3+x” examination programme in 1999, and guangdong province took the lead in initiating reforms in the design and content of the higher examination, restoring the higher examination subjects in biology and geography and changing the “3+2” model introduced since 1985. “3” in the “3+x” examination refers to “language, mathematics, english”, which is a compulsory subject for candidates, english for increased hearing, and “x” refers to students choosing, on their own initiative, an examination subject from a combination of arts and sciences, with a full score of 750, which by 2001 was extended to the full range of high school courses, including music, sports and fine arts. As of 2009, the “3+x” programme has been applied in the 25 provinces and municipalities of beijing, tianjin, chongqing and fujian. It is the most widely applied, mature and accepted model of high-level examinations in china. In addition, shandong and zhejiang have a “3+x+1” (language, mathematics, english + science integration (or arts integration) + basic capability test) model, and shanghai city has a “4+ basic integration” model (language, mathematics, english, electives + basic integration) model, while jiangsu has a “3+ learning level testing” (prescriptive 4+ selected 2) model. In 2010 guangdong abolished the “3+x+ foundation” model and changed it to “3+ synthesis” (language, mathematics, english + science integration (or arts) + learning level test). The reform of the curriculum for advanced examinations has broken the long-standing pattern of common use of one test paper across the country, added local elements and features for advanced examinations and raised the safety factor for advanced examinations。
