15-year-old girl skips two grades to sit college entrance exam with brother, wins place at world's 13th best university
A 15-year-old Chinese girl who skipped two years of primary school to sit the national college entrance exam alongside her older brother has won a place at Peking University.
In a remarkable feat, 15-year-old Xu Haolin has successfully skipped two grades and taken the college entrance exam with her 17-year-old brother, Xu Haotian. Xu secured an impressive score of 699 out of 750 in this year's gaokao, placing her within the top 100 in Anhui Province. Her brother Haotian scored 688, gaining admission to the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei.
Both siblings attended Chizhou No. 1 Middle School in Chizhou city. Peking University, where Haolin will study at its Guanghua School of Management, ranks 13th globally in the QS World University Rankings for 2027 and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2026. The University of Science and Technology of China, where Haotian will study, stands at 51st in the Times Higher ranking and 134th in QS list.
The gaokao, a crucial examination in China, was held in early June and consists of scores out of 750, varying by province. Over 12.9 million candidates registered for the exam this year, a decrease of 450,000 compared to 2025, as reported by China's Ministry of Education on June 3. Haolin bypassed the second and sixth grades in primary school to join her brother's year group and alleviate their mother's burden of separate school runs. She then proceeded to finish first in their first mid-term exam alongside him.
After the results were revealed, Haotian confessed his astonishment over his sister's score to the South China Morning Post. He humorously added that he could boast to his new university about having a younger sibling studying at Guanghua, despite being two years his junior. Their father frequently posted about their achievements, garnering widespread congratulations on social media.
However, Haolin herself rejected the label of 'genius girl,' stating she does not believe her talent and intelligence meet the criteria for such a title. She attributed her success to efficient studying, early identification of knowledge gaps, maintaining composure under pressure, and steady progress through consistent learning.
Written by urgent.news from VnExpress International's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
