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The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges (labels=no), commonly abbreviated as the Gaokao (p=), is the annual nationally coordinated undergraduate admission exam in mainland China, held in early June. Despite the name, the exam is conducted at the provincial level, with variations determined by provincial governments, under the central coordination of the Ministry of Education of China.
Gaokao is required for undergraduate admissions to all higher education institutions in the country. It is taken by high school students at the end of their final year. announcing it as an examination venue for the 2013 National Higher Education Entrance Examination]]
The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges 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.Guodong Wei, "On the Reform of China's NCEE since 1977" (PhD diss., Hebei University, 2008). During the next ten years, the Down to the Countryside Movement, initiated by Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party 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, CCP Chairman 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. In addition to being an important part of university admissions since its reintroduction in 1977, the Gaokao has represented meritocracy in contemporary China and reflected strong cultural values derived from the old imperial examination system.
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.Wei, "On the Reform of China's NCEE since 1977". 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 general secretaryship of Xi Jinping, some provinces have instituted reforms to eliminate extra points for ethnic minorities and students who exhibited "ideological and political correctness". Extra point schemes have been retained for Taiwanese students in an effort to lure them to mainland universities.
Below are the changes of the exam scope from 2016 to 2017 (in most areas of China, where the students use the Nationwide Exam Papers in Gaokao):
Chinese
Mathematics
Foreign Language
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Political Science
History
Geography
Although the exam returned to its usual early‑June slot in 2021, Shanghai deferred its local sitting of the 2022 Gaokao to 7–9 July after a city‑wide outbreak—the first such delay since 2020. Year 2022 saw a record 11.93 million registrations nationwide, represents an increase of 1.15 million people compared to 2021, setting a new record high.
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, which significantly contributed to the rapid growth in the number of NCEE examinees and accepted students.
| + Annual acceptance rate |
| 5.19% |
| 6.59% |
| 5.98% |
| 8.41% |
| 10.81% |
| 17.11% |
| 23.35% |
| 29.27% |
| 35.23% |
| 29.84% |
| 27.19% |
| 24.63% |
| 22.56% |
| 21.55% |
| 20.95% |
| 24.75% |
| 34.27% |
| 35.86% |
| 36.76% |
| 40.25% |
| 35.97% |
| 33.86% |
| 55.44% |
| 58.83% |
| 59.09% |
| 62.84% |
| 62.34% |
| 61.36% |
| 57.52% |
| 57.48% |
| 56.03% |
| 57.87% |
| 62.70% |
| 69.95% |
| 73.04% |
| 75.28% |
| 76.74% |
| 76.83% |
| 78.33% |
| 79.64% |
| 81.01% |
| 81.13% |
| 88.74% |
| 90.34% |
| 92.89% |
| 85.04% |
| 84.97% |
| – |
| – |
| + | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | – |
| 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 Science, 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 "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, Political Science, and Geography), from which students need to choose 6 questions to answer, weighed at 60 points. The total score is 810 points.
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.
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.
| +Relativity Between Portion of Each Grade and the Band Score !Grade !A !B !C !D !E |
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.
| + Exam scope ! | Subject ! | Compulsory Courses ! | Elective Compulsory Courses |
| Chinese language | 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 language | 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 | |
| Political Science | 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 |
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.
| + Gaokao Time Arrangement ! Date ! colspan="2" | 7 Jun. ! colspan="1" | 8 Jun. ! colspan="3" | 9 Jun. ! colspan="3" | 10 Jun. |
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, the City University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong directly participate in the application procedure like other mainland universities. In Malaysia, the University of Malaya recognized application via Gaokao for bachelor's degree with a minimum score of 520 starting March 27, 2025.
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.
In recent years, varied admission standards have led some families to Gaokao migration for the sole purpose of advancing their children's chances of entering university.
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.
The Ministry of Education announced in 2018 that five nationwide categories, including academic Olympiad winners, science‑and‑technology competition laureates, and provincial‑level excellent students would be eliminated to ensure a fairer and more scientific selection process.
Further and deeper-stemming criticisms have been leveled that the testing system is the "most pressure-packed examination in the world". 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 their daughters were not menstruating at the time of examination. Testing pressure, for some critics, has been linked to fainting, increased drop out rates, and increased rates of teenage clinical depression.
Pressure caused as a result of the Gaokao has been linked to a rise in student . A school in Hebei installed to prevent students from jumping to their deaths in response to two suicides in the facility related to the exam.
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. 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." 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. 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. An increasing number of young people describe themselves as sang because they feel that it is futile to pursue traditional notions of success.
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