Unpopular Reasons for Self-Study Exam Failure | Generated by AI
Question: What are some unpopular opinions about why people fail the National Higher Education Self-Study Examination (自学考试) in China when trying to earn a self-taught associate or bachelor’s degree?
Answer:
Here are several genuinely unpopular (and often politically incorrect) opinions commonly heard in Chinese online communities (Zhihu, Douban, Tieba, Bilibili comments, etc.) from people who have either passed the exams themselves or observed the system for years. These views are rarely voiced in official media or counseling sessions because they clash with the dominant narrative of “hard work always pays off”:
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Most failures are not due to “lack of time” or “work pressure,” but chronic laziness and poor self-control.
The exam-takers are adults with jobs or family responsibilities, yet many who pass are also full-time workers or even parents. The real difference is that failures spend evenings scrolling Douyin/TikTok, playing games, or watching dramas instead of studying. They then blame “no time” as a socially acceptable excuse. -
A large portion of candidates fundamentally lack the academic ability or IQ required for college-level material.
The self-study exam is roughly at the level of a mid-tier undergraduate program. Many candidates only graduated from junior high or low-performing high schools and have been out of school for 10–20 years. When they can’t understand calculus, English reading comprehension, or legal articles, it’s not “the exam is too hard”—it’s that they never had (and still don’t have) the cognitive foundation. Saying this out loud is taboo because it sounds elitist. -
A lot of people are just buying the diploma for the piece of mind or to brag, not because they actually want the knowledge.
They register for popular majors like law, accounting, or HR, then fail 7–8 subjects repeatedly over 5–10 years and complain the system is unfair. In reality, they never seriously intended to learn; they just wanted the certificate to show relatives during Chinese New Year or to put on a resume. -
Women (especially married women with children) fail at dramatically higher rates for completely predictable reasons that no one is allowed to say.
After marriage and childbirth, the burden of housework and child-rearing almost always falls disproportionately on the wife. Husband plays games or watches ballgames while the wife “studies” with a baby on her lap. When she inevitably fails, society blames “the exam is too difficult” instead of unequal domestic division of labor. -
The entire self-study examination system is now filled with low-motivation, low-ability candidates because all the smart and disciplined people already went to regular college or adult night school (成考).
Twenty years ago, self-study exam was full of talented people who missed regular college entrance exam. Today, anyone with decent grades goes to university directly, and night school (which is much easier) exists, so the remaining self-study candidates are disproportionately those who couldn’t get in anywhere else—making average pass rates terrible and creating a death spiral. -
Paying for “guaranteed pass” cheating agencies is often the rational choice, and pretending otherwise is hypocrisy.
In some provinces, certain majors have <5% real pass rates. Many middle-aged candidates just want the diploma to get a promotion or keep their job (many state-owned enterprises and civil service positions still require a bachelor’s). Spending 20,000–40,000 RMB on a cheating ring is cheaper and faster than studying for 8 failed years.
These opinions are extremely common in anonymous Chinese internet spaces but almost never appear in official propaganda, which always emphasizes “perseverance and the Chinese dream.” People who voice them openly usually get accused of “looking down on working-class strugglers.”