Macao University announced recently that, in response to policy adjustments, it will temporarily suspend the undergraduate admission applications of non-Gaokao students from Mainland China starting from the 2025/2026 academic year.
This decision by Macao University means that during the application period from May 6 to June 26 in 2025, the university will no longer accept undergraduate program applications from non-Gaokao students (including those enrolled in international programs or those with overseas exam results).
Following the news report by “Southern Weekend,” it has sent shockwaves through the education sector in Mainland China, with many referring to it as “triggering shock among international high school students and their parents.” Furthermore, the impact extends to Mainland Chinese students, as they will no longer be able to apply to Macao University based on international curriculum system grades, even the OSSD system from Mainland schools will no longer be viable.
According to the latest enrollment policy of Macao University, the university is not completely disregarding “international curriculum grades,” nor is it only recognizing Gaokao scores. Instead, it has made a more detailed distinction based on “place of origin + application scores”: students from non-Mainland areas including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas can still apply to Macao University based on international curriculum grades, while Mainland students will only be able to apply for undergraduate programs at Macao University based on Gaokao scores, and “all applicants must complete the online registration process on the official website of Macao University.”
Prior to the abrupt change in enrollment policy by Macao University, the “DSE cheating case” was exposed.
In November this year, according to Sing Tao News, the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority discovered that more than 20 students enrolled at Macao University had submitted forged scores for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE). The Macao Judicial Police also stated on November 18th that after investigation, 24 Mainland students were implicated, with 4 of them already arrested, while the remaining 20 implicated Mainland students have all left Macao. The Macao police mentioned that the parents of the arrested individuals successfully utilized fake educational backgrounds to gain admission through online intermediaries.
The phenomenon of “falsification of admission application materials” represented by the DSE cheating scandal did not originate in Macao, but was first exposed in Hong Kong.
In July this year, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police Force stated that a 24-year-old and a 34-year-old Mainland woman were arrested in June and July 3 respectively on suspicion of “using false documents” and “making false statements to immigration officials.” Their alleged crimes were committed in the capacity of study-abroad agents, fabricating false materials including but not limited to transcripts, language scores, extracurricular experiences, and more.