Exam uncle: 55-year-old man plans to take China’s gaokao university entrance test for the 26th time in hopes of getting into his dream school

The business owner has dreamed of attending Sichuan University since he was a teenager

He has scored high enough to get admitted to second-tier universities, but he wants to attend his dream school

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Liang Shi is 55-years-old and plans to take the gaokao for the 26th time. Photo: SCMP composite

Published: 9:00am, 13 May 2022

The vast majority of Chinese people who take the annual gaokao university entrance exam are teenagers on the verge of starting their journey into adulthood.

But 55-year-old Liang Shi will be taking the exam for the 26th time, hoping to score high enough to get admitted to Sichuan University, his dream school.

Liang, who owns a building materials company in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province, has been taking the gaokao, China’s one-size-fits-all university entrance exam, since 1983. There was a preselection test back then, and he was eliminated in the first round.

“My grades were low at the time, but my desire to attend college was strong, and that is why I haven’t given up after all these years,” Liang told China News, a state-run wire service.

Liang, who is much older than fellow test takers, studies for the gaokao. Photo: Weibo

Liang said that he skipped the exam 14 times either due to work responsibilities or previous policies requiring students to be unmarried and under 25 years old, which were lifted in 2001.