(Photo taken on Sept. 12 shows the recruiment site. Photo/Chinanews.com)

A total of 12 elite independent schools from the U.K. came to Shanghai on Sept. 12 for recruitment at the 7th China Summit of the Association of Leading Independent Schools.

Nearly 100 Chinese students who had passed a pretest and a written test participated in a one-on-one interview during the event.

According to a principle of BE Education, the host of the activity, U.K. schools have placed great importance on the Chinese market. They hope that Chinese parents can better understand the schools through both online and offline recruitment activities.

In addition, the Good Schools Guide officially announced its entrance into the Chinese market at the summit. The online platform is the primary source for U.K. parents when choosing schools for their children and has information on almost all the schools in the country.

Currently, the information of 460 schools from both the U.K. and the U.S. has been listed on the online guide.

Emma Vanbergen, president of Education Consultancy of BE Education, said Good Schools Guide aims to break down the asymmetry of information for Chinese parents, providing them with more open and transparent information.

Six of the 12 schools are ranked top 50 in the U.K., while the rest are also elite schools in the country.

“The one-on-one interview is a chance for the students to fully show their talents to the interviewers,” noted Katja Lamping, who heads the Association of Leading Independent Schools in Asia.

If the students leave a good impression on the interviewers, they could gain an advantage in their future applications, she added.