(Beijing) – For the fourth straight year, the number of students applying to take the gaokao, or annual national college entrance exam, has declined on a demographic transition and the rising number of students going abroad.

The number of applicants fell by 180,000 this year compared to last year, the Ministry of Education said on June 5. Some 9.15 million students applied to take the test in 2012. The number of applicants peaked in 2008 at 10.5 million.