Topic: University entrance exams: what you take, who runs it, and what else counts
How is it done in Japan?
Everyday topic
Japan's Common Test for University Admissions (大学入学共通テスト) is run once a year in January by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations (DNC) together with participating universities, using the same questions nationwide. National and public universities almost always require two stages: a first cut on Common Test scores, then each university's own 'second-stage exam' (個別学力検査), with results announced in an early (前期) or later (後期) round. Most private universities skip the Common Test and set their own 一般選抜 subjects, though many also offer a 共通テスト利用方式 that admits students on Common Test scores alone. Two further tracks skip written scores altogether: 学校推薦型選抜 (formerly 推薦入試, based on a high-school principal's recommendation and in-school grades) and 総合型選抜 (formerly AO入試, weighted toward motivation essays, interviews and short essays) — both have been taking a growing share of admissions in recent years.
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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