New Delhi: Is China’s Gaokao scandal free? China’s national college entrance exam – Gaokao is now the talk of the town on social media following a post by China’s Embassy in India that took a swipe at India’s exam system – JEE/ NEET. “China’s Gaokao — the world’s largest exam and India’s equivalent of JEE/NEET rolled into one — was conducted smoothly for 1.3 crore students in just two days. Factories paused. Roads quieted. The entire nation rallied for its students,” read the X post by India’s China Embassy.
China’s Gaokao, considered to be the toughest entrance exams in the world, has hit controversies with incidents of paper leak, exam cheating. Here are some incidents of paper leak, exam cheating aligned with China’s top entrance exams – Gaokao (National College Entrance Exam), Guokao (National Civil Service Exam), Zhongkao (High School Entrance Exam).
Reports on selling of Gaokao 2026 test papers online
As reported by China Daily, before Gaokao 2026, police have taken legal measures against a person for reportedly claiming to show leaked Gaokao paper. The person allegedly attempted to sell the paper for 2,000 yuan (USD 295). As per police, these types of scammers took help of online platforms, WeChat groups to attract anxious candidates and parents.
Reports of paper leak in Gaokao 2022
In Gaokao exam 2022, reports of Mathematics papers circulated online lead to speculation of paper leak. As per Global Times, a state-run newspaper, a candidate photographed the question paper through his mobile phone and sought answers online.
Other major paper leaks
Apart from Gaokao, there were incidents of paper leaks in various major exams in China. In 2015, there were reports of question papers of the National Postgraduate Entrance Exam appeared online before the exam.
What is Gaokao?
The modern Gaokao, itroduced in 1952, is one of the toughest exam in the world, as per the Erudera report. Every year, over 10 million students appeared for Gaokao; 13.35 million sat for the Gaokao 2025 while 13.42 million students took the test in 2024. Gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam assesses a candidate’s knowledge across multiple subjects- Chinese, Maths, English, plus subjects of choice among three streams- Humanities, Science and Commerce. To check malpractices, stringent measures such as AI-powered cameras are being installed in exam centres, drones and other high-tech tools are being used to watch over the process.
Gaokao vs JEE/ NEET
The basic difference between Gaokao and JEE/ NEET is that Gaokao is a single exam which determines students’ admissions into universities/ colleges. While JEE is held for admissions to engineering colleges and NEET for admissions to medical institutes.
Every year, Gaokao witnesses participation of over a crore candidates, while JEE typically attracts 10 to 15 lakh candidates, NEET – around 20 lakh.
