Gaokao
The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges (普通高等学校招生全国统一考试), commonly abbreviated as Gaokao (高考; 'Higher Exam'), is the national undergraduate admission exam of China, held in early June every year. The exam is held by provincial governments under the Ministry of Education's orders and is required for undergraduate admissions to all higher education institutions in the country. The exam is taken by high schools' graduating seniors at the end of their final year.
| Gaokao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 普通高等学校招生全国统一考试 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 普通高等學校招生全國統一考試 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Higher Exam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 高考 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The exam totals approximately nine hours in a period of two or three days, depending on the provincial administrative regions in which it is held. All students must take exams on Chinese and math. Candidates can choose one subject from English, French, Japanese, Russian, German or Spanish for the foreign language portion of the test, with most students selecting English. Students must also choose between either the Arts track (文科倾向) or the Science track (理科倾向). Students who choose the Arts track receive further testing in History, Political Science, and Geography (文科综合), while those who choose the Science track are tested in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (理科综合).
The overall mark received by the student is a weighted sum of their subject marks. The maximum possible mark varies from year to year and from province to province, although it is usually 750. Generally, the exam takes place from June 7 to 8 every year, though in some provinces it can last for an extra day. On rare occasions, it has been delayed, most notably due to COVID-19.