Three thousand students cheated in the annual college entrance examinations held earlier this month, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Dai Jiagan, the official in charge of the national examinations, said the students were found to have written answers on pieces of paper to exchange information with their peers. Some students carried mobile phones which are forbidden from exam venues.

In recent years, students have been caught using mobile phones to send text messages or contact people outside the exam room. In response, mobile phone detectors and electronic shielding machines were also widely used during this year's exam.

"The number of students cheating this year increased by 1,300," Dai said. "In spite of this, no leaked examination content or group fraud was found to have occurred during the examination," he added.

The college entrance examination in China is known as the fiercest academic competition in the world. Statistics from the MOE showed a record 9.52 million people applied to enter college this year, of whom 8.8 million attended the examination. Universities and colleges this year will enroll 2.6 million first-year students for a four-year higher education -- just one place for every four candidates.

The annual college entrance examination is taken on June 7 and June 8 nationwide.

"Generally speaking, the college entrance examination this year was carried out smoothly with concerted efforts by the whole society," Dai said. Chinese ministries in charge of public security and information industry joined hands with the MOE to create a sound environment for the examination

"We banned the harmful information about the examination such as sale of fake exam papers and devices for cheating in the exam, detected and seized a group of people playing fraud on the exam," Dai said.

Chinese police also actively participated in keeping and transporting the exam papers, and maintaining the order of the exam venues.

The MOE set up an emergency response office especially for the college entrance examination, Dai said. In Jian'ou city of China's Fujian Province, 4,681 students could not attend the examination due to a serious flood. The MOE emergency response office, together with the local government, made efforts and gradually ensured that all the students take the exam with an alternative exam paper.

The MOE also strengthened the inspection and set up a 24-hour reporting system for the examination, which achieved a good result, Dai added.

Expressing his regret for the cheating during the exam, Dai said the local governments were investigating and would handle the matter in accordance with relevant rules.

Editor: Wing