Tough test: 12 million takers of Gaokao, China's national college entrance exam

FIRST DAY | It’s the first day of the annual "Gaokao”, China's 2022 National College Entrance Examination. The two-day test for senior high school students kicked off on Tuesday (June 7, 2022). Each year, millions of students in China take the gaokao, taken by students in their third and final year of high school.

OFF TO A GRUELLING TEST | The gruelling test is known officially as the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. It's China's version of the American SAT and British A-level tests, and is known as one of the toughest exams in the world.

PASS RATE: The Gaokao has a 1:150 selection ratio, in which takers must achieve a score of 750 (for Beijing). Typically, over 9.75 million Gaokao registrations are received per year. This year, nearly 12 million applications were received. A scene outside the test centres shows parents waiting for the students to come out of the Gaokao exam.


FAIR SYSTEM | It is hailed as a fair system to select talents, the gruelling has changed the fates of a lot of young Chinese. The exam room in Beijing, 1977, first year of the resumed Gaokao, after Cultural Revolution.

RECORD APPLICANTS | About 9 million youngsters take the test on an average year. This 2022, a total of 11.93 million students have applied for the exam, a record. One Chinese saying aptly compares the Gaokao exam to a stampede of “thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of horses across a single log bridge.”

HIGH FIVE | The Chinese characters for gaokao (高考) literally mean “high exam”. It is also the lone criterion for admission into Chinese universities. The Gaokao is the feared university entrance exam at age 18, which lasts for 10 hours over 2 days days of incredibly complex questions.

LARGEST EXAM | Gaokao is the largest exam in the world. Around 63,500 candidates from Wuhan will take the challenge.

COMPETITIVE: One Chinese saying aptly compares the Gaokao exam to a stampede of “thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of horses across a single log bridge.”

ACCEPTED GLOBALLY | Due to its level of difficulty, some European and American universities have also started to accept Gaokao scores. To be able to apply students must have at least a score of 60% of the maximum score of their provincial Gaokao scale in the case of Mainland China or of their Liankao in the case of a Special Administrative Region of China.

WELL WISHERS: Sunflowers were given to examinees as lucky gifts before the exam at a high school in Linyi, Shandong, China. Nearly 12 million are taking the test this year (>71,000 students in Linyi alone) as China's college entrance exam, also known as Gaokao, kicks off. This time, the Shanghai test was postponed due to COVID-19.

GAOKAO TAKERS: File photo shows Chinese high school students practicing yoga at a schoolyard as they prepare for the National College Entrance Exam, also known as "Gaokao", in Chongqing, China May 19, 2017. Pictures taken May 19, 2017.

GAOKAO DURING PANDEMIC: File photo shows students wearing face masks prepare to take part in the annual national college entrance exam, or "gaokao", which has been postponed by one month due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, outside a high school in Beijing, China July 7, 2020.