It is a nerve-racking experience for many teenagers and their families, as a total of about 9.57 million high school pupils all over China are taking the national college entrance exam today, a crucial step for their future.

The Ministry of Education said that the pupils are competing for 6.57 million places at the country's universities or colleges.

This means that approximately the top 68.7 percent will have the chance to go to university, a 7 percent increase on last year.

As there is a 650,000 drop in the number of students registering to take this year's exam, the pupils are set to have a better chance of success than in previous years.

The exams period lasts for three days, and the police have taken measures to ensure traffic does not prevent the students from reaching the locations where they will sit the exam.

In some provinces, hotlines are providing information on the exam sites and other details.

The country's Central Meteorological Station has not forecast very high temperatures during the college entrance examination period.

China's current college entrance examination system was established in 1949, and it is considered the most important method for the country to select talent and guarantee fairness in education.

 

Students about to take the national college entrance examination walk to their test site in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, on Monday June 7, 2010. [Xinhua]

 

Students about to take the national college entrance examination pose for photos at a school in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Monday June 7, 2010. [Xinhua]