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The enrolment-plan system: how places for English-taught MBBS are capped school by school

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

Under the Ministry of Education's enrolment-plan system, each school on the list receives a place figure for English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine for a given academic year. For 2023–2024, the Ministry's notice names 44 universities and 3,048 places in total. This page sets out what a plan is, how the 2023–2024 notice says the schools and numbers were settled, what the annex's third column shows, and how many schools sit at each plan size. For the list itself, see this register's section page.

The 2023–2024 list is the list for the 2023–2024 academic year. When this site read the Ministry's policy index on 11 October 2026, the index listed no later edition of the annual list notice. Confirm the current year's status with the university and the Ministry. The English on this page is this site's translation of the Chinese text. The annex lists universities by their Chinese names; the English names used here are this register's own.

What a plan is

Paragraph 1 of the 2007 notice (教外来〔2007〕39号, issued by the Ministry of Education) says that from the 2007/2008 academic year, schools whose English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine programmes basically met the Interim Provisions are subject to plan management, and that each year's enrolment plan is published.

Paragraph 4 of the same notice describes the list as a dynamic list. Whether a school meets the requirements of the Interim Provisions is assessed by the expert group, and the result is published when the annual enrolment plan is issued. Paragraph 2 of the 2007 notice names 30 universities for the 2007/2008 academic year. That figure applies to that year only.

Article 30 of the Interim Provisions (annex 1 to the 2007 notice) says the Ministry will commission the National Expert Group for Medical (Western Medicine) Education for International Students to assess teaching quality. It also says the Ministry will publish the list of schools that pass the assessment, together with their enrolment scale. Under the same article, schools not on the list may not enrol international students in undergraduate medical education in English. The second paragraph of Article 30 says that schools which apply, and which meet the conditions after the expert group's assessment and argument, will be listed in the next year's list.

The 2023 notice uses 招生名额 (enrolment places) in its text, and the annex uses 招生计划数 (enrolment plan figure) for its column. This site treats each plan figure as a cap on places for that year. A plan figure is not a measure of quality, and it is not a count of students actually enrolled.

How the 2023–2024 schools and places were settled

The General Office of the Ministry of Education issued the 2023 notice (教外厅函〔2023〕10号). The notice is dated 15 May 2023, and the Ministry's site published it on 30 May 2023.

Paragraph 1 of the 2023 notice says the Ministry entrusted 44 universities to enrol students in English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine, with 3,048 places in total. It says the schools and the allocation of places were determined by taking into account earlier years' enrolment and each school's day-to-day teaching and management of medical education for international students.

The preamble of the 2023 notice refers to the 2007 notice (教外来〔2007〕39号) as 《通知》, and the 2023 notice uses that term in the same sense in its later paragraphs.

Paragraph 2 of the 2023 notice says schools on the list must continue to enrol in line with the spirit of the Notice. It says schools not on the list may not enrol English-taught clinical medicine students. It also says such schools may not award English-version MBBS degree certificates, or English-version degree certificates containing the word "MBBS". They may enrol only students in Chinese-taught clinical medicine, and the training standard may not be lower than that for Chinese clinical medicine students. Bilingual teaching used to enrol international students in disguise is strictly prohibited.

Paragraph 3 of the 2023 notice refers to the Measures on the Administration of Schools' Enrolment and Training of International Students (Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Public Security) and to the Quality Specifications for Higher Education of International Students (Trial). It says schools that seriously violate the spirit of the Notice are to be dealt with by restricting or stopping enrolment, in accordance with law and regulations. Paragraph 3 gives no procedure for that decision.

Reading the annex

The annex has three columns: the serial number (序号), the school (学校), and the 2023—2024 enrolment plan figure (2023—2024学年招生计划数). The annex ends with a total row, 合计, which prints 3048.

The annex order and the size of a plan are not a ranking, and this site does not read either as a measure of quality. Row 11 is printed as 温州医科大学（含境外办学）, with the bracket （含境外办学） included in the annex's name. Its plan figure, 150, is the largest in the annex. Its English name in this register is Wenzhou Medical University.

How many schools sit at each plan size

The table below is this site's count of the 44 rows of the annex, grouped by plan figure. Paragraph 1 of the 2023 notice gives the 44 universities.

Plan figure (places, 2023–2024) Number of schools (this site's count)
150 1
110 1
100 12
90 1
80 1
78 1
70 1
60 15
50 1
40 6
20 4

Each figure is a cap on places for 2023–2024. None of these figures describes a school's quality, its fees or the number of students it has enrolled.

Annual notices in the policy index

The Ministry's policy index lists the annual list notices by title. A date sits beside each title, and that date is the day the notice was put on the site. The notice for 2023–2024 is shown with 2023-05-30, and the next annual line is 2021-04-01, for the 2021–2022 list. The index has no line for the 2022–2023 list. The annual lines run back to the 2012/2013 list. When this site read the index on 11 October 2026, it listed no later edition than the 2023–2024 list.

Questions people ask

What is an enrolment plan under the 2007 notice?

Paragraph 1 of the 2007 notice (教外来〔2007〕39号) says that from the 2007/2008 academic year, schools whose English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine programmes basically met the Interim Provisions are subject to plan management, and that each year's enrolment plan is published. Paragraph 4 of the same notice says the list is dynamic, and that the expert group's assessment is published when the annual enrolment plan is issued.

How were the 3,048 places for 2023–2024 settled?

Paragraph 1 of the 2023 notice (教外厅函〔2023〕10号) says the schools and the allocation of places were determined by taking into account earlier years' enrolment and each school's day-to-day teaching and management of medical education for international students. The annex's total row prints 3048.

Does the 2023–2024 list still apply?

The 2023–2024 list is the list for the 2023–2024 academic year. When this site read the Ministry's policy index on 11 October 2026, the index listed no later edition. Confirm the current year's status with the university and the Ministry.

What does the official text say about a school that is not on the list?

Article 30 of the Interim Provisions says schools not on the list may not enrol international students in undergraduate medical education in English. Paragraph 2 of the 2023 notice says such schools may not enrol English-taught clinical medicine students and may not award English-version MBBS degree certificates, and that they may enrol only students in Chinese-taught clinical medicine.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary. It is not legal, medical or professional-licensing advice, it is not published by the bodies named, and it promises no admission, examination or registration outcome. The official text and the regulator's own instructions prevail if they differ.

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