TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nearly every student who underwent college entrance exams this year took the English test, just edging out the number of students who took the Mandarin exam.
Statistics released by the College Entrance Examination Center on Monday show that of the 121,181 students who took the exams in January, 99.6% took the English test and 99.58% took the Mandarin test, a 21-student difference. The number of students who took college entrance exams in all subjects increased by 1,009 compared to last year, and the number who scored “top standard” marks also increased across all tests, according to CNA.
Of those who took the English exam, around 3.3% scored the maximum, and 16% scored in the top standard category or above. For the Mandarin exam, around 2.32% scored the maximum, and just under 18% scored in the top standard category or above.
The top standard indicates a test taker scored within the 88th percentile. This is followed by “high standard” (75th percentile), “mean standard” (50th percentile), “low standard” (25th percentile), and “bottom standard” (12th percentile) scores.
Student results are used to calculate these standards annually. The examination center said the standards remained similar across all subjects compared to last year.
In addition to the language tests, students took social studies, science, and two maths tests. Around 43% of students took all six tests, while only 4% took between one and three.
