Gaokao (Digital Subjects) Requirements & Prerequisites
Everything you need to know before registering for the Gaokao (Digital Subjects), eligibility, cost, format, and what to expect on exam day.
Cost
~¥100 (~$14)
Provider
Ministry of Education
Validity
Annual exam
Available
China
Education
Check official exam requirements
Experience
3-5+ years of professional experience typically required
Specific Requirements
- Registration is provincial, opens in the autumn before the June examination, and requires meeting that province's residency and schooling conditions. Hubei, for example, requires household registration in the province, or for children of migrant workers, three years of continuous actual study at a Hubei upper secondary school plus proof of a parent's stable employment and residence.
- Candidates must be graduates of an upper secondary school or a secondary vocational school, or hold equivalent standing certified by a municipal or higher education administrative department.
- Students currently enrolled in a higher education programme, or already admitted with a place held open, may not register.
- Non-final-year upper secondary students may not register, except for approved young talent programme candidates.
- Anyone within a suspension period imposed for violating national education examination rules may not register.
- Registration and examination fees are payable online at registration and vary by province: 155 yuan in Shandong for the three national subjects with selective subjects free, 35 yuan per subject in Hubei, and 150 yuan flat in Heilongjiang. Hubei halves the fee for final-year students receiving national student grants.
- In provinces using 3+1+2, subject selection is made at registration and cannot be changed afterwards. Shandong states explicitly that selective subjects may not be altered once the selection window closes.
- In Shandong, a final-year upper secondary candidate must have passed the qualifying-level school examination in each subject chosen for the selective examination; subjects not passed at qualifying level cannot be selected.
- Candidates with disabilities must declare their disability certificate number, type and grade at registration to receive reasonable accommodations.
Number of Questions
The Ministry of Education does not publish a fixed question count per paper, and counts vary by paper and by year. Papers are defined by their mark totals: 150 for each of the three nationally set subjects and 100 for each of the three selective subjects.
Duration
615 minutes across three or four days. Chinese 150 minutes, Mathematics 120 minutes, foreign language 120 minutes including the listening component, and each of the three selective subjects 75 minutes. Papers begin 7 June and finish on 9 or 10 June depending on the province.
Question Format
Multiple choice and objective items across all six subjects, Fill in the blank and short calculation, heavily used in Mathematics, physics and chemistry, Extended problem solving with worked steps in Mathematics and the sciences, Reading comprehension and classical Chinese passages in the Chinese paper, A long composition in the Chinese paper, Computer-delivered listening and speaking items in Beijing and Guangdong, answered through headset, microphone, mouse and keyboard
Passing Requirement
No fixed pass mark. Each province publishes batch admission control lines after marking, and each university and programme sets its own admission line. Position on the provincial one-point-one-rank table is the operative measure rather than the raw total.
How It Is Delivered
Paper-based written examinations at standardised provincial examination centres, with the exception of the computer-delivered English listening and speaking tests in Beijing and Guangdong. The Ministry of Education said it upgraded smart security gates for 2026 to improve detection of phones and smart glasses, tightened entry screening, and expanded intelligent invigilation and inspection.
Languages Offered
Chinese is the language of examination. The foreign language subject may be taken in English, Russian, Japanese, French, German or Spanish, chosen by the candidate. Ethnic minority language papers exist in some provinces, for example Mongolian in Inner Mongolia and Tibetan or Mongolian in Qinghai, sat on 10 June.
Rules specific to this exam
- Structure: The 3+1+2 model. 3 nationally set subjects (Chinese, Mathematics, foreign language) at 150 marks each; 1 first-choice subject from Physics or History at 100 marks; 2 re-selected subjects from politics, geography, chemistry and biology at 100 marks each. National papers are set by the Ministry of Education; selective subject papers are set by the province.
- Digital Components: Beijing's English listening and speaking test is fully computer-delivered, offered twice per cycle (13 December 2025 and 21 March 2026 for the 2026 Gaokao), marked out of 50, with the better attempt counted. Guangdong has used computer-based English listening and speaking since 2011, marked out of 60 raw and divided by three to give 20 marks alongside a 130-mark written paper, with 2026 results released on 13 April.
Visit the official Ministry of Education certification page
Create an account and select your exam
Choose a test center or online proctoring option
Pay the exam fee and schedule your date
Score Scale
750 total marks. Chinese, Mathematics and the foreign language are marked out of 150 each; the first-choice Physics or History paper and the two re-selected subjects out of 100 each. The two re-selected subjects are reported only as converted grade marks on a 30 to 100 scale.
Score You Need
No fixed pass mark. Each province publishes batch admission control lines after marking, and each university and programme sets its own admission line. Position on the provincial one-point-one-rank table is the operative measure rather than the raw total.
How It Is Calculated
Four of the six subjects are counted at raw marks: Chinese, Mathematics, the foreign language and the first-choice Physics or History paper. The two re-selected subjects are equated by rank-based grade conversion. Candidates in each subject are ranked, divided into grades A to E at roughly 15, 35, 35, 13 and 2 percent, and mapped proportionally to 100 to 86, 85 to 71, 70 to 56, 55 to 41 and 40 to 30. Scoring is fully compensatory across the 750 and nothing is deducted for a wrong answer.
When You Get Results
There is no on-the-day score. Marking runs through mid-June and provinces release results in a cluster in late June: Shanghai on 23 June 2026, Guangdong on 24 June, and Beijing, Hebei, Jilin, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and Shandong on 25 June. Batch admission control lines and the one-point-one-rank table are published at the same time. The Beijing and Guangdong computer-based English listening and speaking results arrive far earlier, with Guangdong releasing its 2026 results on 13 April.
In raw terms: Only for the converted subjects, and only as a band. A raw mark landing in the top 15 percent of a subject's cohort converts into 86 to 100; the next 35 percent into 71 to 85; the next 35 percent into 56 to 70; the next 13 percent into 41 to 55; and the bottom 2 percent into 30 to 40. Provinces do not publish the raw marks behind these bands at all.
- Two forms of valid ID (one government-issued with photo)
- Appointment confirmation email
- For online proctoring: webcam, microphone, clean desk, stable internet
What are the prerequisites for the Gaokao (Digital Subjects)?
Registration is provincial, opens in the autumn before the June examination, and requires meeting that province's residency and schooling conditions. Hubei, for example, requires household registration in the province, or for children of migrant workers, three years of continuous actual study at a Hubei upper secondary school plus proof of a parent's stable employment and residence.. Candidates must be graduates of an upper secondary school or a secondary vocational school, or hold equivalent standing certified by a municipal or higher education administrative department.. Students currently enrolled in a higher education programme, or already admitted with a place held open, may not register.. Non-final-year upper secondary students may not register, except for approved young talent programme candidates.. Anyone within a suspension period imposed for violating national education examination rules may not register.. Registration and examination fees are payable online at registration and vary by province: 155 yuan in Shandong for the three national subjects with selective subjects free, 35 yuan per subject in Hubei, and 150 yuan flat in Heilongjiang. Hubei halves the fee for final-year students receiving national student grants.. In provinces using 3+1+2, subject selection is made at registration and cannot be changed afterwards. Shandong states explicitly that selective subjects may not be altered once the selection window closes.. In Shandong, a final-year upper secondary candidate must have passed the qualifying-level school examination in each subject chosen for the selective examination; subjects not passed at qualifying level cannot be selected.. Candidates with disabilities must declare their disability certificate number, type and grade at registration to receive reasonable accommodations..
How much does the Gaokao (Digital Subjects) cost?
The Gaokao (Digital Subjects) exam costs ~¥100 (~$14). This includes the exam fee only, study materials are additional.
How do I register for the Gaokao (Digital Subjects)?
Visit the official Ministry of Education certification page → Create an account and select your exam → Choose a test center or online proctoring option → Pay the exam fee and schedule your date
What should I bring to the Gaokao (Digital Subjects)?
Two forms of valid ID (one government-issued with photo). Appointment confirmation email. For online proctoring: webcam, microphone, clean desk, stable internet.
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