全国多个地区正在推进中考改革，探索淡化中考选拔功能的新路径。[1]浙江嵊泗县于2025年建立县域内"全员直升高中"机制，推行普高"愿读尽读"。[1]湖南娄底市计划从2026年秋季学期起，在2所学校启动"十二年一贯制"贯通培养试点。[1]同时，上海、吉林、四川成都、内蒙古兴安盟等地部分学校也已启动或将开展类似的贯通式培养试点。[1]
教育专家认为，这一改革将改变中考的传统功能定位。厦门大学教授别敦荣表示，"中考原有的选拔与分流两大功能都将逐步减弱，乃至丧失"。[1]中国教育科学研究院研究员储朝晖则指出，"高中作为基本公共教育服务，不应分三六九等"。[1]专家指出，中考改革需要实现教育均衡发展和制度系统性重构，而非单纯改变考试形式。[1]全国基础教育重点工作部署会和《教育发展"十五五"规划》都提到推进中考改革。[1]
Several Chinese provinces and cities are piloting structural changes to their middle school entrance examination systems, moving away from competitive selection toward more inclusive pathways. Starting in autumn 2026, two schools in Loudi, Hunan will launch a twelve-year continuous education program that blurs the traditional division between junior and senior high school [1]. Similarly, Shengsi County in Zhejiang implemented a county-wide mechanism in 2025 allowing all junior high graduates to advance directly to high school, establishing a "willing to read, able to read" model for senior secondary education [1]. Additional regions including Shanghai, Jilin, Chengdu in Sichuan, and Hinggan League in Inner Mongolia have launched or plan to launch comparable pilot programs [1].
These reforms reflect a fundamental reassessment of the middle school entrance exam's role in the education system. Education scholar Bie Dun'rong observes that "the middle school entrance exam's original dual functions of selection and stratification will gradually weaken and may eventually disappear" [1]. Commentator Chu Zhaohui argues that "high school, as basic public education services, should not be differentiated into hierarchies" [1]. The initiatives align with national policy direction, as both the national conference on fundamental education priorities and the Education Development "15th Five-Year Plan" have emphasized advancing middle school entrance exam reform [1].