--- title: "China’s School System: Grades, Ages, the Gaokao and Degrees, With the Chinese for Each (小学, 初中, 高中, 高考)" description: "China’s school system stage by stage: kindergarten 幼儿园, primary 小学, junior high 初中 and the 中考, senior high 高中 and the 高考, then 本科, 硕士 and 博士, with the ages and grades of each, and 40 school words with pinyin and sound." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/china-school-system" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free · 40 words # China’s school system in Chinese [Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%B9%BC%E5%84%BF%E5%9B%AD%20%E5%AD%A6%E5%89%8D%E7%8F%AD%20%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%A6%20%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%AD%20%E9%AB%98%E4%B8%AD%20%E4%B8%AD%E5%AD%A6%20%E8%81%8C%E9%AB%98%20%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%20%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%93%20%E5%B9%B4%E7%BA%A7%20%E4%B8%80%E5%B9%B4%E7%BA%A7%20%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%80%20%E9%AB%98%E4%B8%89%20%E8%80%83%E8%AF%95%20%E4%B8%AD%E8%80%83%20%E9%AB%98%E8%80%83%20%E6%88%90%E7%BB%A9%20%E5%88%86%E6%95%B0%20%E5%BD%95%E5%8F%96%20%E5%BF%97%E6%84%BF%20%E8%A1%A5%E4%B9%A0%E7%8F%AD%20%E6%9C%AC%E7%A7%91%20%E5%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB%20%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E7%94%9F%20%E7%A1%95%E5%A3%AB%20%E5%8D%9A%E5%A3%AB%20%E5%8D%9A%E5%A3%AB%E5%90%8E%20%E5%AD%A6%E4%BD%8D%20%E6%96%87%E5%87%AD%20%E6%AF%95%E4%B8%9A%20%E7%8F%AD%E4%B8%BB%E4%BB%BB%20%E5%AD%A6%E6%9C%9F%20%E5%AF%92%E5%81%87%20%E6%9A%91%E5%81%87%20%E4%BD%9C%E4%B8%9A%20%E6%A0%A1%E6%9C%8D%20%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E8%AF%81%20%E4%B9%89%E5%8A%A1%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2%20%E7%95%99%E5%AD%A6%20%E7%95%99%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F) Speed ## China’s school system by age | | In Chinese | Ages | Years | Ends with | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Kindergarten | 幼儿园 yòu’éryuán | 3 to 6 | 3 | — | | Primary school | 小学 xiǎoxué | 6 to 12 | 6: 一年级 to 六年级 | — | | Junior high | 初中 chūzhōng | 12 to 15 | 3: 初一 to 初三 | 中考 zhōngkǎo | | Senior high | 高中 gāozhōng | 15 to 18 | 3: 高一 to 高三 | 高考 gāokǎo | | University | 本科 běnkē | 18 to 22 | 4, for a 学士 | — | | Master’s | 硕士 shuòshì | 22 and up | 2 to 3 | — | | Doctorate | 博士 bóshì | 25 and up | 3 to 4 or more | — | ## Stages of school yòu幼ér儿yuán园 kindergarten xué学qián前bān班 preschool class; kindergarten xiǎo小xué学 elementary school; primary school chū初zhōng中 junior high school; middle school gāo高zhōng中 high school; senior middle school zhōng中xué学 middle school; high school zhí职gāo高 vocational high school (short for 职业高中) dà大xué学 university; college dà大zhuān专 junior college; three-year college ## Grades nián年jí级 grade; year (in school) yī一nián年jí级 first grade; first year (of school) chū初yī一 first year of junior high school; seventh grade gāo高sān三 third year of senior high school; twelfth grade ## Exams kǎo考shì试 exam; examination zhōng中kǎo考 senior high school entrance exam gāo高kǎo考 college entrance exam (in China) (short for 高等学校招生考试) chéng成jì绩 grades; results fēn分shù数 score; grade lù录qǔ取 to admit (students); to enroll zhì志yuàn愿 choice of college (on an application form) bǔ补xí习bān班 cram school; tutoring class ## Degrees běn本kē科 undergraduate (course); bachelor's degree xué学shì士 bachelor (degree) yán研jiū究shēng生 graduate student; postgraduate shuò硕shì士 master's degree bó博shì士 doctor; PhD bó博shì士hòu后 postdoc; postdoctoral xué学wèi位 academic degree wén文píng凭 diploma bì毕yè业 to graduate ## School life bān班zhǔ主rèn任 homeroom teacher; head teacher (of a class) xué学qī期 semester; term hán寒jià假 winter vacation shǔ暑jià假 summer vacation zuò作yè业 homework; assignment xiào校fú服 school uniform xué学shēng生zhèng证 student ID card yì义wù务jiào教yù育 compulsory education liú留xué学 to study abroad liú留xué学shēng生 overseas student; international student ## How does the Chinese school system work? Children go to 幼儿园 (yòu’éryuán), kindergarten, from 3, then six years of 小学 (xiǎoxué), primary school, from 6, and three of 初中 (chūzhōng), junior high. Those nine years are free and compulsory, 义务教育 (yìwù jiàoyù), by a law of 1986. Then the 中考 (zhōngkǎo) decides who goes on to 高中 (gāozhōng), senior high, and who to a vocational school, 职高 (zhígāo); senior high ends with the 高考 (gāokǎo) and university. ## What grade is my child in China? Grades are counted within each school: 一年级 (yī niánjí) to 六年级 is grades 1 to 6 of primary; 初一, 初二 and 初三 (chū yī, chū èr, chū sān) are grades 7 to 9; and 高一 to 高三 (gāo yī to gāo sān) are grades 10 to 12. A few places, such as Shanghai, have five years of primary and four of junior high. ## What is the gaokao? 高考 (gāokǎo), short for 高等学校招生考试, is the national college entrance exam, taken at the end of 高三 in early June. In most provinces it is scored out of 750: 语文 (yǔwén), Chinese, maths and a foreign language are 150 each, and the subjects a student chooses make up the other 300. The score alone decides which universities will take you, so students list their choices, 志愿 (zhìyuàn), after the results. ## What are Chinese university degrees called? A bachelor’s degree is 本科 (běnkē), four years for a 学士 (xuéshì) degree; a three-year junior college course is 大专 (dàzhuān). A graduate student is a 研究生 (yánjiūshēng): a master’s is 硕士 (shuòshì) and a PhD 博士 (bóshì). A degree is 学位 (xuéwèi) and a diploma 文凭 (wénpíng). ## What is the school year in China? Two terms, 学期 (xuéqī): the first from September to January, the second from February or March to July, with the winter break 寒假 (hánjià) over Chinese New Year and the summer break 暑假 (shǔjià) in July and August. Each class has a 班主任 (bānzhǔrèn), a head teacher, and most pupils wear a 校服 (xiàofú), a school tracksuit. ## Can’t hear it? Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead. ## More for school in Chinese - [School words in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-vocabulary/school) - [Chinese numbers](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-numbers) - [China public holidays](https://mandarinthewild.com/china-public-holidays) - [The HSK levels](https://mandarinthewild.com/hsk-levels) Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; ages, years and gaokao scores from Wikipedia’s Education in China and Gaokao, and they vary by province.