School is a densely populated place, which can easily lead to tuberculosis clusters, then affect the physical and mental health of students and the normal teaching order of school. Tuberculosis latent infection (LTBI) screening for new students and close contacts of tuberculosis patients has become important parts of school tuberculosis prevention and control strategies. Previous studies have shown that the LTBI rate of Chinese in-school students is about 5.74% to 11.67%, and there are differences in gender, studying phase and urban-rural distributions. Preventive treatment is an effective measure to prevent LTBI from developing into active tuberculosis, but the proportion of LTBI preventive treatment for students in most areas is low. The difficulties in implementing preventive treatment may be attributed to concerns about adverse reactions to medication and sense of shame towards illness among students, and lack of awareness about preventive treatment among medical staff. This review searches the research literature published from 2016 to 2023, and summarizes the prevalence of LTBI in Chinese students and progress on preventive treatment, so as to provide insights into prevention and control of tuberculosis among students.