Advanced examination settingsIn 1999, the ministry of education introduced the “3+x” examination programme, and guangdong province took the lead in initiating reforms in the placement and content of advanced examinations, restoring higher examinations 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 shared national use of a test paper, increased the local elements and characteristics of advanced examinations and increased the security factor for advanced examinations。
