The number of people signing up for the national postgraduate entrance exam is expected to continue to increase next year, according to a new report issued on Sunday.

The report, published by the New Oriental Education and Technology Group, said the rise is mainly because the number of new college graduates will increase next year and the recovery of the economy after the COVID-19 epidemic is not sound to offer enough satisfactory jobs for new graduates.

However, the report said the enrollment rate for postgraduate study will remain similar as the country is expected to increase the enrollment number.

A total of 4.74 million people signed up to take the postgraduate exam this year, up by 170,000 from last year, according to the Ministry of Education.

The report also predicted the percentage of students enrolled in application-oriented postgraduate study will increase.

Meanwhile, more people who did not perform well in the exam will choose to retake the exam the following year.

Based on a survey of almost 900,000 of people who signed up for tutoring courses at the company for postgraduate exam last year, the report said the main reason for students to pursue postgraduate study include better employment prospect, career development and wanting to study at a better university.

Almost half of them chose a similar level of university for postgraduate studies, 28 percent chose to go to a better university and 19 percent settled down for a less famous university for postgraduate studies.

Seventy-one percent of its clients pursued application-oriented postgraduate study, the report added.