Guangdong Dual Self Study Degrees Guide | Generated by AI
This is a good question about China’s National Higher Education Self-study Examination (全国高等教育自学考试 / 自考).
Let me look into the specific details for this situation.Great question. Here’s a clear breakdown for your specific situation:
Yes — in Guangdong, you can study for both the associate degree (专科) and bachelor’s degree (本科) at the same time. But there are important rules to understand.
Your two programs would be:
- Associate degree (专科): 计算机应用技术 (Computer Application Technology) — Code 510201
- Bachelor’s degree (本科): 计算机科学与技术 (Computer Science & Technology) — Code 080901, with 广东外语外贸大学 as one of the exam-administering schools
The key rule:
The self-exam policy does not require you to have an associate degree certificate before registering for a bachelor’s program. However, when you apply for the bachelor’s degree graduation certificate, you must first have obtained a nationally recognized associate degree (or above) as a prerequisite.
In other words:
- ✅ You can take bachelor’s-level exam subjects while still working on your associate degree.
- ❌ You cannot graduate with the bachelor’s degree until you have already graduated with the associate degree first.
Practical challenges to be aware of:
Most provinces hold self-exams twice a year (April and October), over a weekend, with a maximum of 4 subjects per sitting. If both your associate and bachelor’s programs are through self-exam, the chance of exam schedule conflicts is very high — potentially over 90%.
A common strategy to avoid this is: Get your associate degree through a different pathway — such as an open university (电大), adult college entrance exam (成考), or correspondence education (函授) — and then focus your self-exam efforts solely on the bachelor’s degree. This way the two don’t conflict, and you can typically finish both within about 3 years.
Also note for the bachelor’s (080901) specifically:
Associate degree graduates from a computer application major can directly register for this bachelor’s program. Graduates from other electronics/electrical/IT-related associate programs will need to take an additional course in Computer Organization (计算机组成原理).
So the short answer is: yes, it’s allowed, but plan carefully to avoid exam conflicts. Would you like help mapping out the specific course lists or a study timeline?