Topic: University entrance exams: what you take, who runs it, and what else counts
How is it done in China?
Everyday topic
China's university admission is anchored in the National College Entrance Examination (普通高等学校招生全国统一考试, gaokao), organised nationally by the Ministry of Education and run province by province, held every year on June 7 and 8 (provinces using the '3+1+2' subject model add a third day for elective subjects). '3+1+2' means Chinese, math and a foreign language are tested nationwide, plus one elective from physics/history and two from politics, geography, chemistry and biology, for a maximum of 750 points; some provinces still use an older '3+3' model. Scores are not the only input: a 'comprehensive quality evaluation' (综合素质评价) covering moral character, academic record, health, arts and labour/social practice feeds into admission decisions. For top students in basic sciences, the Ministry runs a separate 强基计划 (Strengthening Basic Disciplines Plan), where admission adds each university's own written test and interview on top of the gaokao score. Vocational colleges instead use a parallel 职教高考 track, scored on 'cultural literacy plus vocational skill' rather than the general gaokao.
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
- moe.gov.cn/t20250219_1179639.html ↗
- moe.gov.cn/t20220130_596951.html ↗
- moe.gov.cn/t20210916_563569.html ↗
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.