Taiwan’s university admissions results have just been released. There are still 117 vacancies for courses in medicine, and the shortfall in students throughout Taiwan has exceeded 10,000, an increase of more than 4,000 compared with last year.
The Joint Board of College Recruitment Commission explained this phenomenon by saying that the overall number of applications this year was down by about 4,000 from last year, and the 1,023 international students starting a course in Taiwan was lower than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I believe that the most important factors were the difficulty of the math section of the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) university entrance examination, leading to a huge drop in the number of students passing the screening to enter top-tier universities, as well as the lack of flexibility in the design of the admissions threshold.
It is generally accepted that this year’s GSAT math section was tough, perhaps the most difficult there has ever been. As a result, only about 700 students taking the test received full marks, and only about 1,500 received a top ranking, representing only 2 percent of the students taking the test, compared with 20 percent of students making the top grade last year.
This means only 10 percent of the students made the top grade this year compared with last year. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that there were not enough students to fill the vacancies in Taiwan’s top-tier universities.
The vacancy rate at the top universities this year ranged from 10 percent to 22 percent. National Taiwan University (NTU) alone had 176 places unfilled.
There is clearly an issue with the system, and this hurts the applicants’ rights.
As the university admissions system has been designed with fixed thresholds — with high thresholds for Chinese, English, math and natural sciences at NTU and National Chengchi University (NCCU) — fewer students make the top grade and therefore apply for two departments.
However, many students prefer NTU over NCCU. This is where the shortfall happens.
Last year, when the math section was too easy, too many students achieved top grades, and a ridiculous situation occurred in which high scorers could not get into the university of their choice.
The solution lies in maintaining a consistent level of difficulty in the exams.
However, it would be better if the rigid five-threshold system for the two highest tiers were abandoned and instead be used as a reference point for applications. A floating design of the top percentage of candidates who apply for a given university could be adopted. This would reduce the effects of differences in exam question difficulty and avoid issues relating to quotas.
Chung Pang-yu is an adjunct assistant professor at National Kaohsiung Normal University’s department of education.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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