During the university entrance exam season, Mr. Truong Tuyet Phong - a teacher specializing in exam preparation in China, has become the center of attention with his advice on choosing schools and majors. In addition, the service of filling out application forms provided by Mr. Phong's education company has also attracted parents and students.

According to AI Media Consulting , the scale of admissions consulting services in China in 2023 will reach 950 million yuan (3,332 billion VND), 7.3 times higher than in 2016. The survey results of Red Star News also show that this service is gradually becoming popular from big cities to rural areas.

Many Chinese parents use this service because they have difficulty keeping up to date with all admission information. They believe that reputable consultants will help families save time, effort and avoid conflicts with their children when choosing schools and majors.

However, there are also opinions that this service is not necessary, so parents should consider before using it. Despite many controversies, the "fever" of university admissions consulting services has not shown any signs of cooling down. Even the company's consulting booking service for 2026 has "sold out" or the school selection consulting course worth 20,000 NDT (70 million VND) has also sold out, continuing to attract public attention.

According to Red Star News update, On June 14, the company's 2024 school selection consulting 'dream card' has two types: 11,999 yuan (42 million VND) and 17,999 yuan (63 million VND), sold out in cities except Anhui, Shandong and Inner Mongolia (China). According to the description, this service will be consulted by teachers in Mr. Phong's education company.

Although the service was not directly instructed by Mr. Phong, more than 20,000 sessions were sold out after 3 hours of opening. This shows that the market demand is high but the supply is not enough. Accordingly, just counting the above service, this teacher's education company earned more than 200 million NDT (701 billion VND) in profit in a short time.

In addition to admissions consulting and filling out application forms, Mr. Phong's company, Phong Hoc Uy Lai Education Science and Technology (Suzhou, China), also provides online exam preparation courses for 599 yuan (2.1 million VND) and admission score prediction services worth 8,999 yuan (31 million VND).

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Mr. Truong Tuyet Phong's education company earned more than 200 million NDT (701 billion VND) after 3 hours of opening its admissions consulting service. Photo: Baidu

Some people think that Chinese families are wasting money on unnecessary information. Others say that Mr. Phong is overdoing it. They think that he could do these jobs for free or charge a small fee.

Despite the mixed opinions, many parents are willing to spend large sums of money on this service. A typical example is Ms. Phung, a teacher at a high school in China, who said she spent 6,000 yuan (21 million VND) just to buy a service to fill out an application form for her son in 2024.

Currently, she and her son have had their first meeting with the instructor. They are waiting for the exam scores to be released to finalize the official registration plan. As a high school teacher herself, it was not difficult for Ms. Phung and her son to fill out the application form. However, she said that the information on the application form was too complicated and there were many things to pay attention to, so she decided to pay for this service.

On the other hand, changes in majors and future job market demands are complex, making it difficult for Ms. Phung and many other parents to grasp. Furthermore, according to Ms. Phung, this is a sensitive time when there is a third party to coordinate, children will make thoughtful choices instead of just relying on emotions.

Ms. Han, a parent who bought admissions consulting services for her child, shared that the process is increasingly complicated, with a lot of information to update. "Many parents have time to research, but some are too busy to do it. Therefore, buying admissions consulting services and filling out application forms for their children is a wise choice."

Nowadays, more and more Chinese parents are aware of this service and are willing to pay a large amount of money. According to Tianyancha data, just by typing in the keyword 'application form filling service', you can find 1,689 related companies or education centers that are doing this job. Among them, 1,180 were established in the past 5 years.

Faced with this situation, in March 2024, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued an order banning schools, teachers, and off-campus training institutions from cooperating to seek benefits through admissions consulting and filling out application forms.

The Ministry of Education has asked schools not to force parents and students to fill out paid admissions consultation forms. At the same time, the agency also emphasized that in order to do a good job of admissions consultation and support candidates in filling out their application forms, each locality must proactively develop a specific plan to improve the above situation.

Police verify the case of a supervisor entering the restroom to take photos of a candidate's 10th grade exam papers . The police are coordinating with the Department of Education and Training of Bac Ninh province to investigate and verify information about a supervisor being "accused" of forcing a candidate to take an early exam paper into the restroom to take photos during the 10th grade exam in this province.