ABOUT 50,000 local high school students will sit this year’s college entrance examination, also known as gaokao, from today to Friday.

This is the first year for students to take the exam under a pilot program started in Shanghai and Zhejiang Province. Examiners said the students were ready though some of their parents were more anxious than their offspring.

“Last-minute rush is hopeless, and you can never predict what will happen in the examinations, so I have been trying my best during the whole three years (of preparation) and ready to take the exams one by one,” said Qian Yihui, a student from No. 2 High School Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University.