Senior year students at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China in Beijing walk out of the school on April 27. Photo: Yang Ruoyu/GT

With more than 10 million candidates, China's annual college entrance examination, or gaokao, to be held in most areas of the country from July 7 to 8, is the largest public activity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 10.71 million candidates will take the year's gaokao, 400,000 more than last year. There will be 400,000 examination rooms and almost a million people are working for the event, according to China's Ministry of Education on Thursday.

The year's national exam, which was postponed a month due to COVID-19, is a highly competitive academic challenge taken mainly by graduating high school students, whose futures could be significantly affected by their test scores.

Beijing is the only region in the country that is on medium risk level due to the recent coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 300 people since June 11.

The exam in the city will be held from July 7 to 10, with 49,000 candidates in 2,867 exam rooms, the local education bureau said on Tuesday. That's 1,077 more rooms than last year because each room will have 20 instead of the usual 30 candidate as a coronavirus prevention measure.

All the staff in the exam rooms are being asked to be tested for COVID-19 before the gaokao. Candidates' health conditions will be checked at exam centers and medical authorities in different districts, said the bureau.

Currently, most parts of China are under low risk of the epidemic, but will not relax their preventive measures during gaokao.

Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province which fought the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak, has 59,000 candidates for gaokao this year. The city has prepared 220,000 specially-made masks for the gaokao candidates, local Chutian Metro Daily reported on Thursday. Once students enter their exam rooms, they will be required to change their masks to the ones with "Wuhan Gaokao" printed on them.

Hubei Province will also provide school supplies that will be used in exams.

All students and organizers will have their temperatures taken before entering the exam rooms, which will be sanitized each day.

"We have been asked to report our temperatures to teachers every day for the last two weeks, and the teachers will report the results to higher authorities," Ai Ai, a graduating high school student in South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times. 

A total of 180 back up "quarantine exam rooms" will be set up in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. The Ministry of Education has asked local gaokao organizers to set up such rooms in case they are needed.

In Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, candidates from low-risk regions can decide if they want to wear a  mask, but those from regions on higher alert must wear a  mask during the exams, the Tibet Daily reported Thursday. Students will receive temperature test before the exams and only those with a temperature under 37.3 C will be allowed to enter the exam rooms.

Extra challenges

Because of the self-quarantine policy, students in China missed most part of the spring semester on campus. Gaokao candidates had to study for the exam by following their teachers online and on their own, adding extra challenges to the life-changing exam.

"During the epidemic, many students at home could not study as efficiently as would have in school. As did I," a Beijing candidate surnamed Ma told the Global Times.

"The epidemic has had an impact on the graduates. They have prepared well for the gaokao, and even the mock exams were very difficult, which gave the candidates a heavy blow," Ma's mother said.

Beijing high school graduates has their at-school classes cancelled a second time  weeks ago when the new outbreak hit the city.

"We graduated without a graduation ceremony… some classmates who were under quarantine were photoshopped into our final group photo, which is a pity," Ma said.