Students majoring in optoelectronic manufacturing and application technology get practical training in CNC machine tool installation, commissioning and technical upgrading under the guidance of an instructor at the Zhejiang Industry and Trade Vocational College in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 12. LIU JILI/FOR CHINA DAILY

　　High-scoring students with results above the undergraduate admission threshold are increasingly choosing vocational colleges over traditional four-year university courses, a trend that signals a shift in how Chinese families evaluate education.

　　In Hunan province, 165 vocational college majors recorded admission cutoff scores that met or exceeded the undergraduate control line, according to data released by the provincial education examination authority on Aug 6.

　　In Guangdong province, 19 vocational institutions recorded minimum admission scores reaching the 440-point history undergraduate cutoff line.

　　In Jiangsu province, where the physics undergraduate cutoff was 456 points, a medical program at Jiangsu Health Vocational College posted a minimum admission score of 547 points — 91 points above the undergraduate line.

　　Shandong province saw 2,403 vocational programs with admission scores above the undergraduate cutoff, while 61 undergraduate programs fell below it.

　　Under China's admission system, undergraduate batches are processed ahead of vocational batches, and undergraduate cutoff scores have historically been significantly higher.

　　Previously, vocational education was widely regarded as a last resort — a choice for students with lower scores who failed to secure university places.