Topic: University entrance exams: what you take, who runs it, and what else counts
How is it done in Brazil?
Everyday topic
Brazil's high-school completion exam, the National Secondary Education Exam (ENEM), is run once a year by INEP, a research body under the federal Ministry of Education; originally an assessment tool, it is now the main credential for university entry. The Unified Selection System (SiSU, run by the Ministry) lets candidates apply to federal, state and municipal public university places using ENEM scores from their most recent attempts, choosing up to two course options; admission is also shaped by the Quota Law (Lei de Cotas), which reserves places for public-school graduates, low-income students, and Black and Indigenous candidates. Most private universities accept ENEM scores as well (often paired with the Prouni scholarship programme or the Fies student-loan scheme), but many state universities — such as USP's Fuvest, UNICAMP's Comvest, and UNESP — still run their own traditional vestibular exam rather than relying solely on ENEM.
What is this topic?
Taiwan sits its Scholastic Aptitude Test and Subject-Specific Test (both run by the CEEC) across three tracks with distinct rules: Application Admission caps the exam at half the final score, weighing the rest on portfolio and interview; Placement Admission ranks purely by exam score; and Star Recommendation goes on in-school class rank alone, no exam-based placement needed.
China runs the gaokao (coordinated nationally by the Ministry of Education, held every June 7–8) on a 750-point "3+1+2" structure, plus a separate 强基计划 that adds a campus test for basic-science talent.
Japan holds one national Common Test each January through the DNC, but national and public universities layer a second, university-run exam on top.
The United States has no national exam at all — the federal Department of Education has no authority over admissions — and the well-known SAT/ACT are private tests (College Board, ACT Inc.) that most selective schools weigh alongside GPA and essays; about 25% of four-year colleges had open admissions as of fall 2021.
India's National Testing Agency runs three separate exams by field: JEE Main (engineering, twice a year), NEET UG (medicine, once a year, now the sole basis for admission nationwide), and CUET UG (general undergraduate, once a year, already replacing Class 12 marks at roughly 48 central universities).
Indonesia's state universities split admission three ways — SNBP on report-card achievement (minimum 20% of seats), SNBT on the computer-based UTBK test (minimum 30–40%), and university-run Jalur Mandiri (up to 30–50%).
Brazil's ENEM, run once a year by INEP, feeds into SiSU for public-university places under a quota law, while state universities like USP and UNICAMP still run their own vestibular.
No two of the seven countries do it the same way — they differ in how many times a year, who administers it, and how much the score alone decides.
Sources and dates
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