Computer-based tests become a trendy operation in China

The growth of computer-based testing in the developed economies over the past 20 years has now started being replicated on mainland China.

Although pencil and paper remain the tools of choice for people sitting in examinations, China saw computer-based tests as a more reliable way of preventing test information leakages.
ATA, a Nasdaq-listed computer-based testing and education services provider, is the primary player in China, which claims that it has 95 percent of the market. Its growth depends on new market opportunities coming with the change of pencil and paper-based tests to computer-aided ones. And the transformation is now faster than ever.

The government’s increased awareness of the merits of computer-based testing and demand of test-takers for a more accurate and fairer evaluation prompt the rapid market growth. Now ATA hosts many more trial computer-based tests than in the past years.
It is estimated that at least 5 percent of mainland tests are conducted on computers. In comparison with the much larger figure in the overseas markets, China posts a moderate estimate of potential market at 100 billion Yuan (US$14.63 billion).