A combo photo shows the contrast of numbers of students attending the new SAT at the No. 2 hall of the AsiaWorld-Expo in 2016 (Up) and 2014 (Down)
(ECNS) -- The number of students attending the new SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) held at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo on May 7 dropped significantly, compared with last year, West China Metropolis Daily reported.
The first such test in Asia since SAT's U.S. watchdog College Board initiated a reform, was held in the No. 7 hall of the AsiaWorld-Expo.
A student surnamed Zhang from Chengdu in Sichuan Province said there were only around 2,000 attendees, compared to 10,000 students in previous tests.
Many hold a wait-and-see attitude, resulting in a significant fall in the number of attendees, insiders say.
Chen Li, the head of a training school, said officially released SAT sample tests and instructions gave very limited information while the only reference was the March SAT held in North America. Many students wanted to see what happened in Asia's first test and thus the number of students signing up was significantly lower compared with the same period last year.
Insiders also said many students getting full or high scores in the SAT would be "a thing of the past" and that language training institutions would "face a big reshuffle" in coming years as "they would not be able to produce full-score legends due to a lack of test resources".
Previously, AsiaWorld-Expo had received more than 10,000 students from the Chinese mainland for each test, the largest in Hong Kong. However, in addition to reduced attendee figures this year, the number of institutions campaigning for the test before May 7 also decreased by almost half, alongside the number of parents accompanying their children to Hong Kong.
After the reform, the total score has been lowered to 1,600 from a previous 2,400, and a demerit policy based on wrong answers has been removed to encourage attendees to have a try at solving difficult problems.
The test lasts six hours, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., which can be a physically ordeal for many students. Moreover, those who attend the SAT will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Many Chinese students hope to enter famous U.S. universities by sitting the SAT, as the test is recognized by more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the country. College Board has overhauled the test in order to better reflect actual student abilities, the paper reported, adding that it is also attributable to several exam paper leak scandals in recent years.
