Lancaster University Confucius Institute is proud to announce the success of their Confucius Classrooms at Anchorsholme Academy and Hawes Side Academy in Blackpool, UK.

In March 2025, Hawes Side Academy hosted their first Youth Chinese Tests (YCT) for current and former pupils at the school. This week, the school held a special award ceremony to present the pupils with their official YCT certificates. Lead Mandarin teacher at Hawes Side Academy, Frieda Fengjuan Cui, said: ‘Seeing the students beam with pride as they received their certificates was truly heartwarming.’

At Anchorsholme Academy, the year 5 and 6 pupils achieved an amazing 100% pass rate in the March Youth Chinese Tests.

Youth Chinese Tests (YCT) are internationally recognised Chinese proficiency tests for school-aged learners. Lancaster University Confucius Institute, Hawes Side Academy and Anchorsholme Academy are all official test centres for these tests.

At both Hawes Side Academy and Anchorsholme Academy, there are a team of Mandarin teachers that teach Chinese to Key Stage 2 pupils as part of the curriculum. During the lessons, the teachers focus on interactive and immersive experience, allowing students to learn the language in a joyful way such as through songs, games, role-play and traditional cultural activities such as paper cutting and dragon dancing.

Both schools also run additional sessions specifically for pupils to prepare for the YCT tests. The excellent results from the schools show the fantastic work of the Mandarin teams and the dedication from the pupils.

Lancaster University Confucius Institute would like to thank the amazing Mandarin teams at Anchorsholme Academy and Hawes Side Academy for their tremendous efforts. We would also like to congratulate all pupils who sat the YCT tests in March for their fantastic results.

At Lancaster University Confucius Institute, we are keen to support children of all ages to learn Chinese through our Confucius Classrooms, Chinese days and after-school clubs at local schools.

This school term, we are running free online YCT preparation classes with Mandarin teacher, Dr Lily Guangqiong Li. For further information about the YCT preparation classes and Chinese proficiency tests at Lancaster University, please visit: Proficiency Tests - Lancaster University.

In addition to the Youth Chinese Tests, Lancaster University Confucius Institute is pleased to announce the launch of GCSE Chinese preparation classes this term for children aged 11 years old and over. The class takes place at Lancaster University Confucius Institute on Mondays, 4.30-5.30pm, with Dr Yun-Chung Li. For further information about the GCSE Chinese preparation classes, please email Lancaster University Confucius Institute at ci@lancaster.ac.uk .