iarjelIARJELIARJEL2708-5120https://doi.org/10.47310/iajel.2022.v03i01.022Students’ Expectation and Perception on Service Quality in a Public Higher Vocational College in ChinaLiJuanSubadrahMadhawaNairPhD Student, Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies, City University Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MalaysiaLecturer, Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies, City University Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MalaysiaCurrently there is a rapid increase of higher vocational college students in China. As such, whether the services provided by colleges meet the needs of students has become the great concern of the management. The main purpose of this study is to examine a difference between students’ expectation and perception on the overall service quality and its five dimensions in a higher vocational college in China. This study is based on Parasuraman’s SERVQUAL model. Descriptive research design and quantitative method was employed in this study. Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires. The sample of the study consisted of 400 second-year students (200 males and 200 females) from Guangdong Polytechnic of Science and Technology in Guangdong Province, China. Prior to the actual study, a pilot test was carried out to obtain the reliability and validity of the instrument. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive analysis and paired samples t-test (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, SPSS Version 25.0). From the descriptive analysis, the highest difference between these five dimensions is Empathy, followed by Responsiveness, Assurance, Tangibility and the lowest was Reliability. Results from the paired samples t-test indicated that there were significant differences between students’ expectation and their perception on overall service quality and empathy dimension of service quality. Therefore, findings of this study suggest that the higher vocational colleges should improve their service quality and empathy dimension of service quality is the criterion that needs addressing urgently by the management to satisfy their students.