Students take on the ultimate exam - 15th June 2026

High-school students are lining up outside exam halls in Beijing. They're some of the 13.4 million school leavers who are taking the 'Gaokao'.

This extremely difficult exam is their only route to a place at university in China. As Gaokao grades decide which university students will attend, this motivates many to study for the highest marks.

There's intense competition for places at universities in the Project 211 group. Although China has 2,820 higher education institutions, these are its 115 world-leading universities.

In previous years, exam preparation caused students to develop severe exhaustion. However, people are becoming more measured, even when they face the Gaokao. Deng Ju's putting her daughter's health and happiness first.

Deng Ju: "She has her own plans. I am more hands-off, as long as she can perform normally. I care more about physical health."

As he's waiting in line, student Zhang Xinnan's staying focused. He explains that keeping calm's a key exam skill.

Zhang Xinnan: "But if we can calm down, we should be able to get to a stable mentality. Mentality is the most important when it comes to the Gaokao."

The Gaokao lasts between two and four days. The compulsory subjects are maths, Chinese and a modern language.

Alongside these, students can now pick three subjects themselves. They choose between biology, chemistry, geography, history, politics and physics. Often, this decision's influenced by students' planned university studies.

This year, universities are introducing new, future-focused degrees. Students will be studying AI, robotics, digital economics, and green energy and engineering. These are designed to support China's future economic and technological development.

Teacher Wang sees the Gaokao as students' transition into adult responsibilities.

Teacher Wang: "Everyone wants to contribute to society in their own way, even if methods vary from person to person. The Gaokao is a final stage for high school, but it's the starting point for the things that come later in life."