The education system in China: choosing your level and field

Understanding how education is structured in China before you pick a school stops you applying to the wrong level or the wrong type of programme.

What you need to know

• The Double First-Class group concentrates national research funding.
• Chinese-taught and English-taught programmes run in parallel, especially at postgraduate level.
• A preparatory Chinese language year is a common route before entering a degree.

Language of instruction and the tests that go with it

• HSK is the standard Chinese proficiency test; Chinese-taught programmes set a minimum level by field.
• English-taught programmes require IELTS or TOEFL.

The order to work through

1. Settle the level and field first — they determine everything else in the application.
2. Check the language requirement of the exact programme, not the institution's general statement.
3. Compare deadlines school by school; they differ between intakes.
4. Prepare the financial and immigration paperwork alongside the academic file, not after it.

Check against official sources

Fees and residence conditions in China change year to year and school to school. This article describes the mechanism; check current figures against the official sources below, or ask VNIS to verify them for your chosen programme.

• Campus China (CSC)
• China National Immigration Administration

Next steps

• Study in China — overview
• The same topic across every destination
• School directory