A Chinese man, Shi Liang, has failed the country’s gaokao examination for the 27th time this year, leaving him with self-doubt about his childhood dream of ever going to university.

The 56-year-old, who sat for the examination, had a 424 score out of 750 total examinations, which is lower than the score needed to gain admission into any Chinese university.

Mr Liang, a self-made millionaire who took the exam in 1983 at the age of 16 for the first time has always been ambitious about his dream to attend a prestigious university in China

He abstained from alcohol and dedicated 12 hours to reading to achieve his lifelong dream; unfortunately, he likely won’t retake the examinations next year, due to his poor performance over the years.

“If I truly can’t see much hope for improvement, there is no point in doing it again. “I really did work hard every day,” he told local media in China.

“It’s hard to say whether I will keep on preparing for the gaokao next year. It’s a hard decision to make, I am not willing to give up either.”

He added, “I might give up, if I do attend it next year, I will give up my last name Liang if I fail.”

Millions of Chinese students from all walks of life partake in the entrance examination on a yearly basis.

Gaokao, is a difficult examination that tests the intellectual capacity of each candidate and determines their life choices, universities, job opportunities, marriage and lifestyle.

The examination focuses on Chinese, mathematics, english and any other science or liberal art course.

In 2021, Chinese government data revealed that about 41.6% of candidates were accepted into universities or colleges.