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Chinese students’ plans to study in foreign schools and universities are being interrupted after they lost their chance to sit for key entrance exams amid the global struggle to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The College Board, which organizes the standardized Scholastic Assessment Test, or SAT, for admission to colleges in the U.S., canceled the March 14 test for all registered students traveling from China to other locations for the exam, according to an email sent to students and seen by Bloomberg. The test is administered in cities like Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore but not in mainland China.
Concerns around the virus and ongoing travel restrictions were the main reasons for this measure, according to the email. The College Board did not immediately respond to requests for comment made outside of working hours.
Graduate school entry exams, GRE and GMAT, and English proficiency tests IELTS and TOEFL were also canceled for March, China’s National Education Examinations Authority said Monday -- marking the second straight month of lost opportunity for test takers in China. The registration fees for all the tests will be refunded.
Miss Deadlines
With the ongoing cancellations, the risk is rising that Chinese students may miss deadlines to apply to top universities across the world. A drop in the intake of Chinese students will hurt the revenue of educational institutions especially those in the U.S., U.K. and Australia whose Chinese student body have grown rapidly in recent years.
Students from China, the largest source of foreign students in the U.S., had a $22 billion impact on the American economy last year, despite the two-year trade war. Applications to the U.K. have also risen while the number of Chinese students to Australia has doubled since the SARS epidemic 17 years ago.
The epidemic has already killed more than 1,800, infected over 72,000 in China and spread to two dozen nations. It has also disrupted global supply chains, stranded travelers on cruise ships and restricted the movements of millions of Chinese people. More than 50 countries and territories have so far imposed travel restrictions and tightened visa requirements for those traveling from China.
The cancellation, however, gives students more time to prepare, said Julia Gooding, a Shanghai-based director at consultancy BE Education. Students can still make it for the start of the fall session at universities if the next round of exams are conducted on May 2 as per the schedule, she said.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Claire Che in Beijing at yche16@bloomberg.net;Allen Wan in Shanghai at awan3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rachel Chang at wchang98@bloomberg.net, Bhuma Shrivastava
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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