On Sunday, June 7, China kicked off its national university entrance examinations, known as the Gaokao. This year, roughly 12.9 million students are taking part, a slight drop from the 13.3 million who participated in 2025.
For a glimpse of where China is headed, consider that the country’s Ministry of Education recently announced new undergraduate programs in fields such as integrated intelligence, low-altitude airspace economics and management, and unmanned systems technology, all aimed at meeting the nation’s emerging industrial and technological needs. Chinese media report a sharp rise in demand for talent with cross-disciplinary expertise. The latest ministry catalog has added 15 interdisciplinary majors, including integrated intelligence and brain-computer interface science and technology. A fast-track implementation mechanism has been activated to help universities launch these programs quickly.
The History of the Gaokao
The roots of the Gaokao run deep in Chinese history. It is considered the spiritual heir of the imperial examination system, a meritocratic selection process that anyone who has watched a Chinese period drama will recognize. Young men competed to become scholars and gain entry into the imperial civil service. It was the world’s first system for selecting officials based on knowledge and merit rather than birth, and it lasted over 1,300 years until it was abolished in 1905, shortly before the fall of the Qing dynasty.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the first Gaokao was held in 1952 as a unified national university entrance exam. It operated normally until 1966, when it was completely suspended during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976. During that period, admission to higher institutions was handled through recommendations from committees of workers, farmers, and soldiers, while universities were shut down or degraded.
In December 1977, Deng Xiaoping restored the Gaokao as a symbol of the return to meritocracy and modern development. That first post-revolution exam drew millions of candidates competing for relatively few spots and is considered a historic moment for the countless young people who had been locked out of higher education for a decade.
Since then, the exam has evolved continuously through reforms, regional variations, and curriculum changes, but it remains the main gateway to higher education in China, dramatically shaping the lives of millions of students every June. It can be seen as a blend of ancient Chinese meritocratic tradition and a modern national development tool.
Gaokao 2026
This year the exams are being held at 7,981 testing centers in 348,000 examination rooms across the country. As every year, all of society mobilized: parents, teachers, and even celebrities sent messages of support and encouragement on social media. Results are expected to be announced in late June.
A mother passes flower to her daughter as students leave the venue after they finished first exam as part of the annual national college entrance exam, or “gaokao”, in Beijing, China June 7, 2026. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
The Gaokao is one of the most competitive examination systems in the world, combining tradition with modern meritocracy. Chinese universities have the capacity to absorb roughly 80 percent of participants, but truly coveted spots at top institutions like Tsinghua University, Peking University, and schools in the Project 985/211 network are scarce. Only about 500,000 students are admitted to the country’s leading universities each year. For those elite institutions, the competition is fiercer than Harvard admissions.
A student’s score determines which university they attend and, down the line, their income and social standing. Getting into a good university means better job prospects, financial security, and even privileges like housing and healthcare benefits. In a country with high youth unemployment and intense competition in the labor market, the Gaokao functions as a tournament where top performers win the big prizes. For this reason, Chinese parents invest as much as 20 percent of their income in preparing their children from a very young age.
Parents wait outside the venue during the annual national college entrance exam, or “gaokao”, in Beijing, China June 7, 2026. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
In short, the Gaokao is not just fiercely competitive because of the difficulty of the tests themselves, but because of the sheer ratio of millions of young people fighting over a limited number of golden spots in a society where education remains the primary path upward.
Looking Toward the Future
This year in particular, China’s Ministry of Education is focused on adapting to a digital and technological future, producing talent for national strategies centered on artificial intelligence, green energy, and other high-tech sectors. The new directions are part of a broader vision for China to become an “education superpower” by 2035. Gaokao 2026 is seen as more flexible, more future-oriented, and more focused on genuine comprehension of material rather than rote memorization.
