University admissions process opens for art students

University admissions procedures, for students wanting to study art, have now started throughout China. Some 50 universities are opening their gates to talented young candidates. The Ministry of Education suggests that this year's quota of art students cannot exceed 1% of universities' total annual student intake. Let's see what kind of competition the applicants are facing this year.

Beijing and Shanghai are the first cities in the country to start their art degree admissions process.

Students in Beijing must pass a universal exam before they can sit the tests at the institutions they've applied to. The universal exam, held at Tsinghua University, comprises a presentation and a test.

Musical performances take the form of blind auditions. A curtain is hung between the jury and the candidates, allowing the jury to base their judgments solely on the music.

Hao Bowen, Art Degree Candidate, said, "The curtain helps me, I don't feel so nervous when I'm playing and it makes the whole process fair. When they want me to stop playing, a bell rings. I think it's quite a good system."

But Beijing's double admission test is only carried out in one-third of China's cities. In cities such as Shanghai, students don't have to take the universal exam.

The art degree admissions process will conclude after Spring Festival in 2013.