| Order: | st |
| S: | 普通高等学校招生全国统一考试 |
| T: | 普通高等學校招生全國統一考試 |
| P: | Pǔtōng gāoděng xuéxiào zhāoshēng quánguó tǒngyī kǎoshì |
| Tp: | Pǔ-tong gao-děng syué-siào jhao-sheng cyuán-guó tǒng-yi kǎo-shìh |
| Bpmf: | ㄆㄨˇ ㄊㄨㄥ ㄍㄠ ㄉㄥˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄓㄠ ㄕㄥ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄊㄨㄥˇ ㄧ ㄎㄠˇ ㄕˋ |
| J: | pou2 tung1 gou1 dang2 hok6 haau6 ziu1 saang1 cyun4 gwok3 tung2 jat1 haau2 si3 |
| Y: | Póu tūng gōu dáng hohk haauh jīu sāang chyùhn gwok túng yāt háau si |
| Poj: | Phó͘-thong Ko-téng Ha̍k-hāu Chiau-seng Choân-kok Thóng-it Khó-chhì |
| Hain: | pu2 hong1 gao1 ddeng3 o5 hhiao5 ziao1 de1 suan2 gog7 hong3 id7 hao3 si4 |
| Buc: | Pū-tŭng Gŏ̤-dēng Hŏk-hâu Ciĕu-sĕng Cuòng-guók Tūng-ék Kō̤-sé̤ṳ |
| Mblmc: | Pǔ-tó̤ng Ǎu-dǎing Hă-hāu Ciáu-sáing Cṳ̌ing-gŏ Tǒ̤ng-ĭ Kǎu-si̿ |
| Hhbuc: | Pô-to̤ng Go̤-dêng Ha̍h-hāu Ca̤u-seng Cé̤ⁿ-go̤h Tô̤ng-ih Kô̤-si̍ |
| Also Known As: | Higher Exam |
| P2: | Gāokǎo |
| Tp2: | Gao-kǎo |
| Bpmf2: | ㄍㄠ ㄎㄠˇ |
| Zh-Dungan: | Путуң гаудəəң школа жаушəң цууангуй тонйи экзамен |
The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges, commonly abbreviated as Gaokao, is the annual national undergraduate admission exam of China, held in early June. The exam is held by provincial governments under directions from the Ministry of Education and is required for undergraduate admissions to all higher education institutions in the country. The Gaokao is taken by high school seniors at the end of their final year.
The Gaokao lasts approximately nine hours for a period of two or three days, depending on the provincial administrative regions where it is held. All students must take exams on Chinese and mathematics. Candidates can choose one subject from English, French, Japanese, Russian, German, or Spanish for the foreign language portion of the exam, with most students selecting English. Students must also choose between either the Arts track or the Science track . Students who choose the Arts track receive further testing in History, Political Science, and Geography, while those who choose the Science track are tested in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology .
The overall score received by the student is a weighted sum of their subject marks. The maximum possible score varies from year to year and from province to province, although it is usually 750. Generally, the exam takes place from 7 to 8 June every year, though in some provinces it can last for an extra day.[1] The Gaokao has been delayed on rare occasions, most notably due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] [3]
The first Gaokao was held on 15-17 August 1952.[4]
The unified national tertiary entrance examination marked the start of the reform of National Matriculation Tests Policies (NMTP) in the newly established People's Republic of China. With the implementation of the first Five Year Plan in 1953, the NMTP was further enhanced. After repeated discussions and experiments, the NMTP was eventually set as a fundamental policy system in 1959. From 1958, the tertiary entrance examination system was affected by the Great Leap Forward Movement. Unified recruitment was soon replaced by separate recruitment by individual or allied tertiary education institutions. Meanwhile, political censorship on candidate students was enhanced. From 1962, the NMTP system was criticized due to its negative impact on the working class; In July 1966, the NMTP was officially canceled and substituted with a new admission policy of recommending workers, farmers and soldiers to college.[5] During the next ten years, the Down to the Countryside Movement, initiated by Mao Zedong, forced both senior and junior secondary school graduates, the so-called "intellectual youths", to work as farmers in countryside villages. Against the backdrop of world revolution, millions of such young people joined the ranks of farmers, working and living alongside them.
In the early 1970s, Mao Zedong resumed the operation of universities. However, new students were selected through evaluation by a revolutionary committee rather than through formal academic scores. This practice continued until the death of Mao in September 1976. In late 1977, Deng Xiaoping, then under Hua Guofeng, the heir apparent of Mao, officially resumed traditional examinations based on academics, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, which has continued to the present day.
The first such examination after the Cultural Revolution took place in late 1977. There was no limit on the age or official educational background of examinees. Consequently, most of the hopefuls who had accumulated during the ten years of the Cultural Revolution and many others who simply wanted to try their luck took the examination. The youngest were in their early teens and the oldest were in their late thirties. The examinations took place in the winter of 1977, and the exam questions were designed by each province individually. A total number of 5.7 million candidates took the national college entrance exam. Initially, only 200,000 people were to be admitted to college. Although the Ministry of Education eventually expanded enrollment, with admissions being granted to a total number of 272,971 students, the admission rate of 4.8% was the lowest in the history of the PRC.[6] These students are known as the Class of 1977.
Starting from 1978, the examination was uniformly designed by the Ministry of Education and all the students across the country took identical examinations.
However, reforms on the content and structure of the exam persisted, with one of the most salient issues being agency for individual provinces to customize their own exams. The Ministry of Education allowed the College Enrollment Office of Shanghai to employ an independent exam in 1985, which was the beginning of the provincial proposition. In the same year, Guangdong was permitted to adopt an independent proposition. Beginning from 2003, Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang were allowed to adopt independent propositions. Since then, 16 provinces and municipalities have adopted customized exams.
Although today's admission rate is much higher than in 1977, 1978 and before the 1990s, it is still fairly low compared to the availability of higher education in the Western world. Consequently, the examination is highly competitive, causing prospective examinees and their families to experience enormous pressure. For the majority of examinees, the exam is a watershed that divides two dramatically different lives.
In 1970, less than 1% of Chinese people had attended higher education, and less than 1/1000 of the population of China was admitted to universities. In the 1970s, 70% of students who were recommended to attend university had political backgrounds reflecting the political nature of university selection at the time. At the same time, the undergraduate course system reduced the time from 4 years to 3 years. According to incomplete statistics, from 1966 to 1977, institutions of higher learning recruited 940,000 people who belonged to the worker-peasant-soldier group.
For most provinces, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination is held once a year; however, some provinces hold examinations twice a year, with the additional exam referred to as the Spring Entrance Examination. Prior to 2003, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination took place in July every year. It now takes place every June. This move was made in consideration of the adverse effects of hot weather on students living in southern China and possible flooding during the rainy season in July. Partial Provincial administrative units determine the schedule of the exams on 7 and 8 June.
Under the Xi Jinping administration, some provinces have instituted reforms to eliminate extra points for ethnic minorities and students who exhibited "ideological and political correctness."[7] Extra point schemes have been retained for Taiwanese students in an effort to lure them to mainland universities.
In 2006, a record high of 9.5 million people applied for tertiary education entry in China. Of these, 8.8 million (93%) took the national entrance exam and 27,600 (0.28%) were exempted if the students demonstrate exceptional merit in the quality of their work and understanding of the academic subject. Out of the 9.5 million applicants, 5,460,500 (57.48%) were admitted to universities or colleges. Everyone else (700,000 students) took other standardized entrance exams, such as those designed for adult education students.
In 2017, 9.40 million students took the Gaokao, 7 million of whom were admitted into colleges and/or universities.[8] The percentage of first-class admission (Yi Ben (一本), deemed as good universities in China) varied from 9.48% to 30.5%,[9] with the lowest admission rates in Henan province and Shanxi province, at less than 10%.
Below are the changes of the exam scope in 2017 from 2016 (in most areas of China, where the students use the Nationwide Exam Papers in Gaokao):
Chinese
Mathematics
Foreign Language
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Politics
History
Geography
9.75 million students attended Gaokao on 7-8 June with 7,909,900 or 81.13% being successful in being admitted to colleges or universities.
Source:[10]
The number of higher education institutes in the People's Republic of China has risen annually since 1977. From 1999 to 2020, the number of institutes increased dramatically from 1,071 to 2,740,[11] which significantly contributed to the rapid growth in the number of NCEE examinees and accepted students.
| Year | Number of examinees | Accepted students | Acceptance rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 5,700,000 | 270,000 | 4.74% | |
| 1978 | 6,100,000 | 402,000 | 6.59% | |
| 1979 | 4,680,000 | 280,000 | 5.98% | |
| 1980 | 3,330,000 | 280,000 | 8.41% | |
| 1981 | 2,590,000 | 280,000 | 10.81% | |
| 1982 | 1,870,000 | 320,000 | 17.11% | |
| 1983 | 1,670,000 | 390,000 | 23.35% | |
| 1984 | 1,640,000 | 480,000 | 29.27% | |
| 1985 | 1,760,000 | 620,000 | 35.23% | |
| 1986 | 1,910,000 | 570,000 | 29.84% | |
| 1987 | 2,280,000 | 620,000 | 27.19% | |
| 1988 | 2,720,000 | 670,000 | 24.63% | |
| 1989 | 2,660,000 | 600,000 | 22.56% | |
| 1990 | 2,830,000 | 610,000 | 21.55% | |
| 1991 | 2,960,000 | 620,000 | 20.95% | |
| 1992 | 3,030,000 | 750,000 | 24.75% | |
| 1993 | 2,860,000 | 980,000 | 34.27% | |
| 1994 | 2,510,000 | 900,000 | 35.86% | |
| 1995 | 2,530,000 | 930,000 | 36.76% | |
| 1996 | 2,410,000 | 970,000 | 40.25% | |
| 1997 | 2,780,000 | 1,000,000 | 35.97% | |
| 1998 | 3,200,000 | 1,083,600 | 33.86% | |
| 1999 | 2,880,000 | 1,596,800 | 55.44% | |
| 2000 | 3,750,000 | 2,206,100 | 58.83% | |
| 2001 | 4,540,000 | 2,682,800 | 59.09% | |
| 2002 | 5,100,000 | 3,205,000 | 62.84% | |
| 2003 | 6,130,000 | 3,821,700 | 62.34% | |
| 2004 | 7,290,000 | 4,473,400 | 61.36% | |
| 2005 | 8,770,000 | 5,044,600 | 57.52% | |
| 2006 | 9,500,000 | 5,460,500 | 57.48% | |
| 2007 | 10,100,000 | 5,659,200 | 56.03% | |
| 2008 | 10,500,000 | 6,076,600 | 57.87% | |
| 2009 | 10,200,000 | 6,394,900 | 62.70% | |
| 2010 | 9,460,000 | 6,617,600 | 69.95% | |
| 2011 | 9,330,000 | 6,815,000 | 73.04% | |
| 2012 | 9,150,000 | 6,888,300 | 75.28% | |
| 2013 | 9,120,000 | 6,998,300 | 76.74% | |
| 2014 | 9,390,000 | 7,214,000 | 76.83% | |
| 2015 | 9,420,000 | 7,378,500 | 78.33% | |
| 2016 | 9,400,000 | 7,486,100 | 79.64% | |
| 2017 | 9,400,000 | 7,614,900 | 81.01% | |
| 2018 | 9,750,000 | 7,909,900 | 81.13% | |
| 2019 | 10,310,000 | 9,149,000 | 88.74% | |
| 2020 | 10,710,000 | 9,675,000 | 90.34% | |
| 2021 | 10,780,000 | 10,013,200 | 92.89% | |
| 2022 | 11,930,000 | 10,145,400 | 85.04% | |
| 2023 | 12,910,000 | 10,970,000 | 84.97% | |
| 2024 | 13,420,000 | - | - |
| Province | Chinese | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 北京 | 58,000 | 54,728 | 51,738 | 49,225 | 59,209 | 63,073 | 60,638 | 61,222 | 68,000 | 70,500 | 72,736 | 73,000 | 76,000 | 81,000 | 88,192 | 103,789 | 109,876 | 110,259 | 98,745 | 85,073 | 81,266 | 71,808 | 64,479 | 56,000 | - | |
| Tianjin | 天津 | 68,000 | 58,000 | 56,000 | 56,300 | 56,000 | 55,074 | 57,015 | 60,000 | 61,990 | 60,000 | 63,000 | 64,000 | 64,600 | 71,000 | 76,500 | 88,500 | 88,500 | 83,600 | 73,836 | 67,000 | 59,000 | 57,797 | 52,312 | 37,028 | - | |
| Hebei | 河北 | 862,000 | 753,200 | 634,000 | 624,800 | 559,600 | 486,400 | 436,200 | 423,100 | 404,800 | 418,200 | 449,800 | 459,300 | 485,000 | 503,000 | 559,000 | 574,800 | 561,800 | 557,600 | 483,000 | 389,535 | 337,000 | 302,000 | - | - | - | |
| Shanxi | 山西 | 344,700 | 337,000 | 315,700 | 326,000 | 314,000 | 305,071 | 317,000 | 339,131 | 342,278 | 341,600 | 358,000 | 361,000 | 339,000 | 362,000 | 360,000 | 370,000 | 331,000 | 320,000 | 297,288 | 247,858 | 210,114 | 171,717 | - | - | - | |
| Inner Mongolia | 内蒙古 | 211,672 | 185,000 | 184,700 | 197,901 | 199,000 | 195,000 | 198,697 | 201,131 | 189,500 | 188,000 | 193,267 | 189,500 | 205,600 | 219,000 | 246,000 | 270,000 | 239,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 186,743 | 166,457 | 137,129 | - | - | - | |
| Liaoning | 辽宁 | 195,882 | 207,706 | 191,000 | 218,152 | 244,000 | 185,000 | 208,502 | 218,252 | 225,191 | 239,000 | 254,000 | 256,000 | 245,000 | 243,500 | 280,000 | 300,000 | 290,000 | 270,000 | 247,000 | 205,123 | 176,000 | 186,480 | 160,000 | - | - | |
| Jilin | 吉林 | 141,000 | 150,000 | 152,412 | 150,000 | 162,787 | 150,239 | 142,900 | 148,500 | 137,681 | 160,200 | 159,000 | 162,000 | 165,000 | 169,000 | 197,000 | 208,000 | 201,000 | 172,000 | 160,000 | 124,796 | 118,866 | 109,224 | - | - | - | |
| Heilongjiang | 黑龙江 | 191,000 | 182,900 | 165,000 | 183,000 | 204,000 | 190,424 | 188,000 | 197,000 | 198,000 | 204,000 | 208,000 | 210,000 | 208,000 | 195,000 | 230,000 | 228,000 | 224,000 | 219,200 | 201,130 | 173,100 | 159,800 | 150,400 | 120,000 | - | - | |
| Shanghai | 上海 | 59,824 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 51,000 | 51,000 | 51,000 | 52,000 | 53,000 | 55,000 | 61,000 | 67,000 | 83,000 | 108,000 | 110,452 | 113,800 | 112,000 | 110,000 | 91,922 | 93,900 | 91,200 | - | - | |
| Jiangsu | 江苏 | 445,000 | 406,000 | 359,000 | 348,900 | 339,000 | 331,500 | 330,100 | 360,400 | 392,900 | 425,700 | 451,000 | 475,000 | 500,000 | 527,000 | 546,000 | 508,000 | 530,000 | 495,000 | 480,000 | 405,000 | 341,410 | 289,400 | 290,731 | 249,420 | 210,000 | |
| Zhejiang | 浙江 | 390,900 | 365,000 | 332,400 | 325,700 | 325,100 | 306,000 | 291,300 | 307,400 | 280,000 | 308,600 | 313,000 | 315,800 | 299,000 | 300,800 | 348,500 | 364,400 | 358,800 | 352,000 | 313,000 | 250,000 | 229,000 | 205,900 | 179,000 | - | - | |
| Anhui | 安徽 | 647,000 | 601,000 | 542,500 | 523,800 | 513,000 | 499,000 | 498,600 | 509,900 | 546,000 | 527,000 | 511,000 | 506,000 | 540,000 | 562,000 | 572,000 | 610,000 | 564,000 | 463,500 | 417,000 | 346,885 | 292,106 | 242,530 | 201,300 | 185,677 | - | |
| Fujian | 福建 | 232,000 | 218,000 | 201,000 | 202,600 | 207,800 | 200,927 | 188,200 | 175,000 | 189,300 | 255,000 | 255,000 | 250,000 | 267,000 | 292,000 | 305,000 | 312,000 | 309,300 | 250,000 | 256,800 | 220,000 | 204,588 | 167,264 | - | - | - | |
| Jiangxi | 江西 | 628,000 | 574,800 | 493,000 | 462,000 | 421,300 | 380,000 | 364,900 | 360,600 | 354,641 | 325,000 | 274,300 | 269,000 | 288,600 | 312,000 | 350,000 | 384,493 | 384,292 | 350,000 | 316,667 | 278,298 | 205,389 | 165,951 | 150,885 | 124,737 | - | |
| Shandong | 山东 | 980,000 | 867,000 | 795,000 | 782,000 | 756,000 | 760,000 | 720,000 | 710,000 | 696,198 | 658,106 | 589,701 | 648,671 | 692,309 | 778,405 | 826,761 | 943,522 | 917,033 | 943,522 | 862,339 | 668,316 | 624,773 | 532,034 | - | - | - | |
| Henan | 河南 | 1,500,000 | 1,300,000 | 1,046,000 | 1,158,000 | 1,084,000 | 983,800 | 865,800 | 820,000 | 772,000 | 724,000 | 758,000 | 805,000 | 855,000 | 952,400 | 959,000 | 905,000 | 878,847 | 780,000 | 719,970 | 595,537 | 498,000 | 354,000 | 291,000 | - | - | |
| Hubei | 湖北 | 501,091 | 464,646 | 405,000 | 394,800 | 384,000 | 374,302 | 362,000 | 361,478 | 368,425 | 402,700 | 438,000 | 457,000 | 484,700 | 492,000 | 519,500 | 525,000 | 503,300 | 533,000 | 460,500 | 372,000 | 330,000 | 288,000 | 228,842 | - | - | |
| Hunan | 湖南 | 684,000 | 655,000 | 574,900 | 537,000 | 499,000 | 451,800 | 410,800 | 401,600 | 390,000 | 378,000 | 373,000 | 352,000 | 372,000 | 413,000 | 507,000 | 540,000 | 518,782 | 480,000 | 425,000 | 349,000 | 299,104 | 258,100 | 218,100 | - | - | |
| Guangdong | 广东 | 900,000 | 857,000 | 783,000 | 788,000 | 768,000 | 758,000 | 730,000 | 733,000 | 754,000 | 756,000 | 727,000 | 692,000 | 655,000 | 615,000 | 644,000 | 614,000 | 553,826 | 517,400 | 451,400 | 389,400 | 335,000 | 260,000 | 241,026 | 185,521 | - | |
| Guangxi | 广西 | 650,000 | 610,200 | 550,400 | 507,000 | 470,000 | 400,000 | 365,000 | 330,000 | 310,000 | 315,000 | 298,000 | 285,000 | 292,000 | 299,000 | 302,000 | 304,000 | 300,000 | 274,900 | 255,232 | 216,675 | 185,465 | 156,141 | 128,365 | - | - | |
| Hainan | 海南 | 70,069 | 63,874 | 60,000 | 57,000 | 60,148 | 58,775 | 57,000 | 60,403 | 62,000 | 61,000 | 56,662 | 55,000 | 54,000 | 54,700 | 57,800 | 49,800 | 42,300 | 41,000 | 45,000 | 34,400 | - | 26,265 | 19,596 | - | - | |
| Chongqing | 重庆 | 341,000 | 314,000 | 289,500 | 283,000 | 264,000 | 250,473 | 247,500 | 248,888 | 255,460 | 250,600 | 235,000 | 230,000 | 216,400 | 196,700 | 196,000 | 186,000 | 177,349 | 190,000 | 160,000 | 130,000 | 95,329 | 81,917 | 62,665 | - | - | |
| Sichuan | 四川 | 800,000 | 770,000 | 700,000 | 670,000 | 654,200 | 620,000 | 582,800 | 571,400 | 575,700 | 571,700 | 540,000 | 538,000 | 514,000 | 511,500 | 500,000 | 517,600 | 498,800 | 453,300 | 450,000 | 339,000 | 258,798 | 227,500 | 193,351 | - | - | |
| Guizhou | 贵州 | 491,000 | 478,000 | 491,700 | 470,602 | 458,700 | 441,731 | 411,897 | 373,873 | 330,591 | 292,700 | 247,800 | 248,000 | 243,100 | 234,000 | 240,000 | 240,000 | 225,700 | 209,180 | 168,502 | 131,982 | 109,122 | 76,776 | 68,416 | 65,784 | - | |
| Yunnan | 云南 | 399,300 | 388,300 | 358,000 | 343,200 | 326,100 | 300,296 | 293,467 | 281,071 | 272,126 | 255,900 | 236,000 | 210,000 | 230,000 | 220,000 | 220,000 | 260,000 | 200,000 | 181,400 | 171,824 | 123,321 | 119,956 | 101,358 | - | 79,033 | - | |
| Tibet | 西藏 | 33,000 | 32,000 | 36,000 | 32,973 | 27,580 | 25,343 | 28,500 | 23,976 | 22,590 | 19,625 | 18,949 | 19,000 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 13,600 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 13,700 | 14,000 | 12,157 | 9,500 | 6,510 | - | - | - | |
| Shaanxi | 陕西 | 336,798 | 323,058 | 312,919 | 322,344 | 325,911 | 319,000 | 319,196 | 328,000 | 344,000 | 353,000 | 366,498 | 375,300 | 383,900 | 378,500 | 405,000 | 414,000 | 411,700 | 373,200 | - | 295,941 | 244,707 | 189,250 | 149,200 | - | - | |
| Gansu | 甘肃 | 247,848 | 243,248 | 245,917 | 263,100 | 266,807 | 273,639 | 284,758 | 296,920 | 303,862 | 297,514 | 283,504 | 295,981 | 297,457 | 290,952 | 286,532 | 290,000 | 272,000 | 249,000 | 207,000 | 163,000 | 136,000 | 115,000 | 87,101 | - | - | |
| Qinghai | 青海 | 51,100 | 48,400 | 58,000 | 56,700 | 55,114 | 42,000 | 46,346 | 44,600 | 42,682 | 39,700 | 40,600 | 38,000 | 40,600 | 38,000 | 39,000 | 41,000 | 38,000 | 40,000 | 33,000 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Ningxia | 宁夏 | 71,612 | 65,694 | 69,119 | 60,300 | 71,702 | 69,475 | 69,233 | 69,119 | 67,708 | 64,000 | 58,700 | 60,200 | 60,100 | 57,000 | 58,000 | 58,000 | 56,500 | 50,000 | - | - | 41,244 | 30,388 | 30,166 | - | - | |
| Xinjiang | 新疆 | 220,000 | 218,500 | 236,100 | 229,300 | 220,900 | 207,400 | 183,700 | 166,100 | 160,500 | 162,600 | 158,700 | 154,700 | 147,700 | 164,200 | 164,500 | 170,000 | 154,096 | 128,100 | 130,000 | 100,000 | 91,000 | 79,300 | 67,000 | 66,810 | - |
The subjects tested in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination have changed over time. Traditionally, students would undertake either a set of "liberal-art" subjects or a set of "science" subjects, with some shared compulsory subjects which were Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language. The subjects taken in the Examination affected the degree Examination, or implemented flexible systems for selecting the subjects to be tested, resulting in a number of different systems. A multi-phased reform was announced in 2014 and was slated to be completed by 2025.
As a pilot examination system used in order to promote education system reform, this examination system was implemented in most parts of the country, including Beijing City, Tianjin City, Hebei Province, Liaoning Province, Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province, Anhui Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province, Jiangxi Province, Henan Province, Shandong Province, Hubei Province, Shaanxi Province, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, Shanxi Province, Chongqing City, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Ningxia, Xinjiang and Tibet. However, within the context of the reforms of the National College Entrance Examination, this program will be suspended in Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong and Hainan provinces from 2020, and will be suspended in most provinces and cities in China from 2021. It will cease across Mainland China by 2022.
| Compulsory Subjects | Score | Time | Elective Subjects | Score | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | Chinese, Mathematics (for arts students) and a foreign language | 450/750, 150 each | 150 minutes for Chinese (9:00 to 11:30 on 7 June), 120 minutes for Mathematics (15:00 to 17:00 on 7 June) and the foreign language (15:00 to 17:00 on 8 June) | Political Sciences, History and Geography | 300/750, 100+100+100 | 150 minutes (9:00 to 11:30 on 8 June) | |
| Natural Sciences | Chinese, Mathematics and a foreign language | 450/750, 150 each | 150 minutes for Chinese (9:00 to 11:30 on 7 June), 120 minutes for Mathematics (15:00 to 17:00 on 7 June) and the foreign language (15:00 to 17:00 on 8 June) | Physics, Chemistry and Biology | 300/750, 110+100+90 | 150 minutes (9:00 to 11:30 on 8 June) |
The system was used in Zhejiang Province, with the last exam offered in 2016 to "Class-of-2013" (Chinese: 2013级, meaning admitted to senior high school in 2013, i.e., being Grade 10 in 2013) while "Class-of-2014" students have been taking the reformed version of Gaokao since 2017.
The "3" and "X" are the same as the national "3+X" system, weighed at 750 points. The "Y" part consists of 18 questions, covering 9 subjects (Chinese, Maths, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Politics, and Geography), from which students need to choose 6 questions to answer, weighed at 60 points. The total score is 810 points.
This system used to be employed in Jiangsu Province, but was replaced by another system in 2020. The total score was 480 points.
This system was used after the New Curriculum Reform was employed in Guangdong province and now has been abandoned.
This system was implemented in Shanghai since the employment of comprehensive courses but now abandoned.
This was a pilot college entrance examination system implemented by the Jiangsu Province in 2003 after examining other testing systems, but it was subsequently replaced by the "3+2" system in 2008. Subject tests will take turns into the embrace of National Standard. A new policy substituted the old one in 2021.
This is part of the curriculum reform in China.
This system was first introduced in 2019, when Hebei Province, Liaoning Province, Jiangsu Province, Fujian Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, Chongqing City announced their examination reform plan, and performed on the 2018 students. This system gives students a wider choice on what subjects they are being tested on comparing to "3+X" system, but limits students' choice against the "3+3" system. By 2024, most regions of the country would implement the system as the successor of their "3+X" system.
To promise the legitimacy of the Grading Exam courses, the final scores of the four courses were transferred to band scores before they were counted into the total score. Example below is Guangdong's algorithm.[13]
When weighing the score, the candidate's score of one course are sorted from high to low, and divided into five group according to rank distribution. A grade from A to E was given to these groups. The band score is then calculated after confirming the grade.
| A | B | C | D | E | ||
| Approx. Portion | ~17% | ~33% | ~33% | ~15% | ~2％ | |
| Band Score Range | 100-83 | 82-71 | 70-59 | 58-41 | 40-30 |
The band score has a range from 100 to 30, each grade has a typical range of 10pts to 17pts. According to each candidate's actual score, the score's belonging grade, and the grade's scoring range, the score was transferred in proportion by the following formula:
, represents the lower and higher limit of the actual score of each grade; , represents the lower and higher limits of the band score of each grade. represents the candidate's actual score, represents the candidate's band score.
This system has been implemented in Shanghai and Zhejiang since the employment of comprehensive courses since September 2014. Since 2017, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Hainan have begun to use this program.
| Compulsory Courses | Elective Compulsory Courses | ||
| Chinese | Compulsory First Volume Compulsory Last Volume | Elective Compulsory First Volume Elective Compulsory Middle Volume Elective Compulsory Last Volume | |
| Mathematics | Compulsory First Volume Compulsory Second Volume | Elective Compulsory First Volume Elective Compulsory Second Volume Elective Compulsory Third Volume | |
| English | Compulsory First Volume Compulsory Second Volume Compulsory Third Volume | Elective Compulsory First Volume Elective Compulsory Second Volume Elective Compulsory Third Volume Elective Compulsory Fourth Volume | |
| Physics | Compulsory First Volume Compulsory Second Volume Compulsory Third Volume | Elective Compulsory First Volume Elective Compulsory Second Volume Elective Compulsory Third Volume | |
| Chemistry | Compulsory First Volume Compulsory Second Volume | Elective Compulsory I Principle of Chemical Reaction Elective Compulsory II Material Structure and Properties Elective Compulsory III Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry | |
| Biology | Compulsory I Molecules and Cells Compulsory II Heredity and Evolution | Elective Compulsory I Steady State and Regulations Elective Compulsory II Creatures and Environment Elective Compulsory III Biotechnology and Biological Engineering | |
| Politics | Compulsory I Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Compulsory II Economy and Society Compulsory III Politics and Rule of Law Compulsory IV Philosophy and Cultures | Elective Compulsory I Contemporary International Politics and Economy Elective Compulsory II Law and Life Elective Compulsory III Logic and Thinking | |
| History | Compulsory Outline of Chinese and Foreign History (I) Compulsory Outline of Chinese and Foreign History (II) | Elective Compulsory I National System and Social Governance Elective Compulsory II Economic and Social Life Elective Compulsory III Cultural Exchange and Communication | |
| Geography | Compulsory First Volume Compulsory Second Volume | Elective Compulsory I Fundamentals of Physical Geography Elective Compulsory II Regional Development Elective Compulsory III Resources, Environment and National Security | |
| Information Technology | 1.Data and calculation 2.Information system and society | 1.Data and data structure 2.Network foundation 3.Data management and analysis | |
| General Technology | Technology and design 1 Technology and design 2 | 1.Electronic control technology 4.Modern housekeeping Technology 7.Fundamentals of Vocational Technology--> |
The National Higher Education Entrance Examination is not uniform across the country, but administered uniformly within each province of China or each direct-controlled municipality. The National Higher Education Entrance Examination is graded variously across the country.
In the winter of the year before the examination year, students are required to register for the examination. The registration is usually completed on the official website of the provincial academy of educational recruitment and examination, and examinees are required to fill out an online form, which includes name, gender, date of birth, identification number, address, domicile, political status, school, phone number, and other information about the examination and admission. The form requires students to choose elective-mandatory subjects they elected. Three subjects are universally mandatory: Chinese, Mathematics, and a foreign language — usually English, but this may be substituted by Russian, Japanese, German, French or Spanish, less than 1% students substitute by other languages. The other six standard subjects are three natural-science subjects - physics, chemistry, biology, and three liberal-art subjects - history, geography, and political science;[17] applicants can elect 3 subjects to take tests from them. Six subjects students take test in Gaokao consist of three universally mandatory subjects and three elective-mandatory subjects which were chosen by applicants.
However, there are general requirements examinees have to comply with:
The following groups are prohibited from taking the exam:
In the spring before Gaokao, examinees participate in school-organized medical examinations, in order to find diseases that affect future majors. For example, students with myopia are not allowed to apply for military schools, and colorblind students won't be admitted by medical professions. It is also noting that "have a high school diploma or equivalent" requires students to firstly take Qualifying Examination of the Academic Proficiency Examination for Senior High School Students (普通高中学业水平合格性考试), unofficially called "Huikao (会考)", including 12 subjects students learned in senior high school. The examination are always very simple to pass. Their results are credited as "qualified" and "failed", "qualified" accounts for 97% of the total number of examination and "failed" accounts 3% of the total, in the end hand in a Comprehensive Qualification Report based on the student's performance and social activity. The result of the Qualifying Examination and the Report would be given to the college as a reference when admitting. Failed students have three chances to take makeup examinations. Chemistry, biology, geography and history examinations are held in the summer of senior one; Chinese, mathematics, English, physics, politics examinations took places in the winter of senior two; and information technology and general technology examinations took up in the summer of senior two; physical education test is in the spring of senior three-months before Gaokao. Elective subjects they failed in Huikao are not available for applicants when signing up to Gaokao.
It is arranged at the end of the spring semester and secondary school graduates across the country take the examination simultaneously over a two to four-day period.
| 8 Jun. | 9 Jun. | 10 Jun. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | 9:00－11:30 | 15:00－17:00 | 15:00－16:40 | 8:00－9:30 | 11:00－12:30 | 15:30－17:00 | 8:00－9:30 | 11:00－12:30 | 15:30－17:00 | |
| Subject | Chinese | mathematics | foreign language | physics | politics | chemistry | history | biology | geography | |
| Score | 150 | 150 | 150 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
Applicants to some specialist programs are also screened by additional criteria: some art departments (e.g. audition), military and police schools (political screening and physical exam), and some sports programs (tryout).
Exam scores can be used to apply to universities outside mainland China. Across the globe, Hong Kong is on their top list. In 2007, 7 students with the overall highest score in their provinces entered Hong Kong's universities rather than the two major universities in mainland China. In 2010, over 1,200 students entered the 12 local institutions which provide tertiary education courses through this examination. In addition, City University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong directly participate in the application procedure like other mainland universities.
The examination is essentially the only criterion for tertiary education admissions. Poor test performance almost always means giving up on that goal. Students hoping to attend university will spend most of their waking moments studying prior to the exam. If they fail in their first attempt, some students repeat the last year of high school to retake the exam during the following year.
In different places and across different time periods in history, students were required to apply for their intended university or college prior to the exam, after the exam, or more recently, after they receive their scores, by filling a list of ranked preferences. The application list is classified into several tiers (including at least early admissions, key universities, regular universities, vocational colleges), each of which can contain around 4-6 choices for institutions and programs. Typically, an institution or program would only admit students who apply to it as their first choice in each tier. In some regions, students are allowed to apply for different tiers at different times. For example, in Shanghai, students apply for early admission, key universities and regular universities prior to the exam, but can apply for other colleges after they receive their scores.
A university usually sets a fixed admission quota for each province, with a higher number of students coming from its home province. As the advanced educational resources (number and quality of universities) are distributed unevenly across China, it is argued that people are being discriminated against during the admission process based on their geographic region. For example, compared to Beijing, Jiangxi province has fewer universities per capita. Therefore, Jiangxi usually receives fewer admission quotas compared with Beijing, which makes a significantly higher position among applicants necessary for a Jiangxi candidate to be admitted by the same university than their Beijing counterpart. The unequal admission schemes for different provinces and regions might intensify competition among examinees from provinces with fewer advanced education resources. For example, Peking University planned to admit 800 science students from Beijing (with 80,000 candidates in total), but only 38 from Shandong (with 660,000 candidates in total). This is not similar to the practice of regional universities in other countries which receive subsidies from regional governments in addition to or in place of those received from central governments, as universities in China largely depend on state budget rather than local budget. However, this regionally preferential policy does provide subsidies to minority students from under-developed regions that enjoy limited educational resources, such as Tibet and Xinjiang.
In recent years, varied admission standards have led some families to relocate for the sole purpose of advancing their children's chances of entering university.[18]
In addition, regional discrimination is not only restricted to the ratio for admission. This is best illustrated with an example of the Hubei Province, where students' exam scores have been higher than other provinces for a long time. A score for a Hubei student to just reach the admission cut-off line for a key university may be enough for a student from another province to be admitted by a much better university, and even enough for a Beijing student to be admitted by top universities like Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Some local students in Hong Kong complained that it was unfair that the increasing intake of Mainland students who have performed at a high level in this examination increases the admission grades of universities, making it harder for local students to get admission. In 2010, more than 5,000 out of the 17,000 students who achieved the minimum university entry requirement were not offered places in any degree courses in the UGC-funded universities.
As a student is required to take exams in the region where their household registration (under the Hukou system) is located, the qualification of migrant children becomes controversial.[19] Since 2012, some regions began to relax the requirements and allow some children of migrants to take their College Entrance Exam in regions outside of their household registration. As of 2016, Guangdong's policies are the most relaxed. A child of migrants can take their Entrance Exam in Guangdong if they have attended 3 years of highschool in the province, and if the parent(s) have legal jobs and have paid for 3 years of social insurance in the province.[20] [21]
There are special concessions for members of ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, persons with family origin in Taiwan, and children of military casualties. Students can also receive bonus marks by achieving high results in academic Olympiads, other science and technology competitions, sporting competitions, as well as "political or moral" distinction. In the 2018 National People's Congress, the government passed legislation abolishing all bonus scores from competitions.
See also: Mental health in China. Because Gaokao is one of the most influential examinations in China and students can only take the test once a year, both teachers and students undergo tremendous pressure in preparing for and taking the exam. For teachers, because the society heavily focuses on the rate of admission into universities, they have to work harder to prepare every student for the exam. Because of this, teachers give students more and more practice for exams. This teaching methodology, colloquially referred to as "cramming", involves students memorizing large volumes of information fed to them by teachers and undertaking many practice exercises in order to optimize exam writing ability. One of the disadvantages of this method is the lack of focus on teaching critical thinking and ignoring students' emotions, values and personalities. Many examinees suffer from severe anxiety during the test. In some cases, examinees may faint in the examination room.[22]
Further and deeper stemming criticisms have been leveled that the testing system is the "most pressure packed examination in the world".[23] Behaviors surrounding the testing period have been extreme under some reports, with doctors in Tianjin purportedly prescribing birth control pills to female students whose parents wanted to ensure the girls were not menstruating at the time of examination. Testing pressure, for some critics, has been linked to faintings, increased drop out rates, and even increasing rates of teenage clinical depression.
Pressure caused as a result of the Gaokao has been linked to a rise in student suicides. A school in Hebei province installed suicide barriers to prevent students from jumping to their deaths in response to two suicides in the facility related to the exam.
The Gaokao tends to impact the lives of most Chinese teenagers and their parents. In Zhengzhou, Henan, the local bus company parked a 985 number bus outside a Gaokao center for parents to wait in, the number reflects a popular enrollment program number for university entrances.
The impact and importance of the Gaokao exam has only increased as the number of students taking the exam has risen to nearly 13 million people in 2023, a 900,000 person increase from 2022 and around a 9,000,000 person increase from 2000.[24] This combines with strict quotas from the top schools such as Peking and Tsinghua University who take less than 7,000 students a year to make enrolling in a Chinese university much more competitive. Students successful in taking the Gaokao can give themselves a boost heading into a youth employment market in China with 20.4% unemployment.
Due to the pressures surrounding the Gaokao exam, there have been reports of Chinese families and educators being 'jealous' of more western teaching styles. According to Lao Kaisheng, a professor in the education department of Beijing Normal University, "The education system here puts a heavy emphasis on rote memorization, which is great for students' test-taking ability but not for their problem-solving and leadership abilities or their interpersonal skills."[25] The results of this exam affect family honor and the future of the Chinese youth, creating a ‘gaokao-above-all’ mentality and high pressure for students and parents alike.[26] This may be why there has been an increase in 'sang' culture in China, which refers to the reduced work ethic, a lack of self-motivation, and an apathetic demeanor among Chinese youth.[27] An increasing number of young people describe themselves as sang because they feel that it is futile to pursue traditional notions of success.