Approval has been granted by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education for Chengdu Vocational University of the Arts to establish an undergraduate vocational program in Opera Performance, specializing in Sichuan Opera, with plans to enroll 60 students in 2026.
This program is classified as an undergraduate vocational program and, in its inaugural year, will conduct admissions based on the inter-provincial joint examination for opera-related undergraduate programs, as arranged by the Ministry of Education. This marks the formal inclusion of high-level talent cultivation for Sichuan Opera into the higher education system.
Admissions for this program will be part of the early batch for arts undergraduate programs. Prospective students must take the 2026 inter-provincial joint examination for opera-related undergraduate programs, specifically the Sichuan Opera track, and also sit for the national unified college entrance exam.
Admission will be based on a merit ranking of the inter-provincial joint exam professional scores, granted the candidate's professional score meets the qualification threshold and their cultural exam score meets the requirements set by their home province.
A particularly noteworthy aspect is the cultural score requirement, which is set at 50% of the local minimum undergraduate admission control score for the college entrance exam. This ratio reflects a national policy inclination for recruiting special talent in opera heritage, aiming to select students with both a certain level of cultural literacy and outstanding opera aptitude.
For Sichuan Province in 2025, the cultural course admission control score for opera programs under the inter-provincial joint exam was 219 points, with a professional qualification score of 180 points.
This undergraduate program for Sichuan Opera is the first in Sichuan Province to integrate Sichuan Opera talent cultivation into the undergraduate education system. As the only institution in the country to offer this specific undergraduate vocational major, Chengdu Vocational University of the Arts will recruit students nationwide without allocating specific provincial quotas.
A university representative stated that they will coordinate teaching resources and explore an integrated training model combining traditional apprenticeship with academic education. This aims to cultivate versatile professionals with both technical skill and cultural literacy for the protection, inheritance, and innovation of Sichuan Opera art.
Prospective students are advised to follow the university's subsequent release of admission guidelines and the inter-provincial joint exam guide to complete their college entrance exam registration and professional exam registration in a timely manner.
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