Zhongkao Requirements & Prerequisites
Everything you need to know before registering for the Zhongkao, eligibility, cost, format, and what to expect on exam day.
Cost
~¥50
Provider
Provincial Education Bureaus
Validity
1 year
Available
China
Education
Check official exam requirements
Experience
1-3 years of hands-on experience recommended
Specific Requirements
- Completion of Grade 9 of compulsory education, and registration through the junior high school the student attends. There is no separate qualification, no fee threshold and no entrance test to sit the zhongkao itself; the Ministry of Education's 2016 reform merged the junior high graduation examination and the senior high entrance examination into a single junior secondary academic proficiency test, so every Grade 9 student takes it. The constraint that actually binds is household registration. Each city sets its own rules on whether a student without local hukou may sit the local exam and which schools they may apply to. Beijing operates under a 2012 municipal scheme governing entrance examinations for children of migrant workers who completed compulsory education in the city: those who apply within the stated window and pass the qualification review may take part in admission to Beijing vocational schools. Shanghai publishes separate arrangements for students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, who take part in admission under the general rules once registered, and for students holding foreign passports, who may sit the academic proficiency test and state a preference but cannot file choices in any admission batch and are placed by the district education bureau instead; students admitted on a foreign passport are not counted against a school's enrolment plan. Some routes carry additional eligibility conditions. Shanghai's quota-to-school category is limited to Grade 9 students who have been continuously registered and studying at a non-selective junior high school for three years, with eligibility certified by the school and filed with the district education bureau. Beijing's secondary-to-bachelor articulated route and its independent admission categories each have their own qualification steps published by the examinations authority.
Number of Questions
No provincial authority publishes question counts in its admission policy; what they publish is the mark allocation per subject and, in Shanghai's case, the duration of each paper. Shanghai's 2026 schedule contains nine separately timed sessions. Beijing scores six subjects, Shanghai seven components and Shenzhen seven subjects, with Shenzhen combining physics and chemistry into one 140-mark paper.
Duration
Shanghai publishes the fullest timing schedule: 530 minutes of scheduled examination time across nine sessions. Chinese 100 minutes, Mathematics 100 minutes, Foreign Language written paper 90 minutes including listening, Foreign Language listening and speaking test 10 minutes by computer dialogue, Morality and Rule of Law open-book paper 40 minutes, History open-book paper 40 minutes, the Comprehensive Test closed-book written paper 120 minutes, and physics and chemistry practical examinations of 15 minutes each. Beijing schedules its Chinese, Mathematics, Foreign Language, Morality and Rule of Law and Physics papers over 24 and 25 June 2026 and does not publish per-paper durations in its policy document. Shenzhen schedules its academic papers over 26 to 28 June 2026.
Question Format
Closed-book written papers in Chinese, Mathematics and Foreign Language in all three cities, Open-book written papers in Morality and Rule of Law: 40 minutes in Shanghai, open-book in Beijing, and changed from closed to open book in Shenzhen for 2026, Computer-based listening and speaking tests: Beijing runs the 40-mark listening and speaking component separately from the written paper with two attempts, and Shanghai runs a 10-minute human-machine dialogue worth 10 marks, Laboratory practical examinations: Shanghai runs physics and chemistry practical tests of 15 minutes each, worth 10 and 5 marks; Shenzhen raised its combined physics and chemistry practical to 20 marks for 2026; Beijing awards 10 of its 80 physics marks for practical operation, Physical education tests: Shenzhen's live test sets three categories containing sixteen events in all and requires one event from each, a 1+1+1 model worth 36 of the subject's 50 marks with the remaining 14 from process evaluation; Shanghai holds its unified physical test in April and May, Cross-disciplinary case analysis: Shanghai's Comprehensive Test includes a 15-mark cross-disciplinary case analysis section alongside physics and chemistry, Comprehensive quality evaluation: scored at 10 marks inside Beijing's Morality and Rule of Law subject, and at 50 marks in Shanghai's quota allocation batch as a pass or fail judgement
Passing Requirement
No fixed pass mark. Each city publishes minimum admission control lines after the examination, and the effective cut score is whatever the last admitted student at each school scored. Beijing publishes one fixed numeric gate in advance: 430 of 510 plus a grade B comprehensive quality evaluation to be eligible for the school-allocated quota route. Shanghai requires students to reach the relevant minimum admission control line before an independent-admission pre-contract becomes a formal admission, and sets a separate line for the secondary-to-bachelor route equal to the city's general high school line.
How It Is Delivered
Paper-based written examinations at centres organised by the municipal or provincial examinations authority, with computer-delivered listening and speaking components and in-person laboratory and physical education tests. Beijing and Shanghai both run choice filing after results are published, so students see their scores before they rank schools. Shanghai allows 15 unified-admission choices; Beijing runs early admission, quota allocation and unified admission in sequence.
Languages Offered
Chinese for every paper except the foreign language subject, Foreign Language, most commonly English, tested in writing and by computer-based listening and speaking
Visit the official Provincial Education Bureaus 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
Set by each city. Beijing: 510 marks across Chinese 100, Mathematics 100, Foreign Language 100, Morality and Rule of Law 80, Physics 80 and Physical Education and Health 50. Shanghai: 750 marks across Chinese 150, Mathematics 150, Foreign Language 150, Morality and Rule of Law 60, History 60, Physical Education and Fitness 30 and a Comprehensive Test of 150. Shenzhen: 630 marks across Chinese 120, Mathematics 100, English 100, a combined Physics and Chemistry paper of 140, History 70, Morality and Rule of Law 50 and Physical Education and Health 50. Shenzhen reports results three ways at once: raw mark per subject, grade per subject and overall total.
Score You Need
No fixed pass mark. Each city publishes minimum admission control lines after the examination, and the effective cut score is whatever the last admitted student at each school scored. Beijing publishes one fixed numeric gate in advance: 430 of 510 plus a grade B comprehensive quality evaluation to be eligible for the school-allocated quota route. Shanghai requires students to reach the relevant minimum admission control line before an independent-admission pre-contract becomes a formal admission, and sets a separate line for the secondary-to-bachelor route equal to the city's general high school line.
How It Is Calculated
Raw marks summed across subjects, with no scaling or equating published by any of the three cities. Scoring is compensatory across subjects: there is no per-subject minimum in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen. Several components are split between a unified examination and an assessment accumulated over the junior high years, which cannot be recovered on exam day: Beijing awards 20 of 50 physical education marks and 10 of 80 Morality and Rule of Law marks this way; Shanghai awards 30 of 60 for Morality and Rule of Law, 30 of 60 for History and 15 of 30 for physical education; and Shenzhen added a process-evaluation component to Physical Education and Health for 2026, splitting the subject's 50 marks into 36 for the live unified test and 14 for process evaluation. Comprehensive quality evaluation enters twice over: as 10 marks inside a Beijing subject, and as a separate 50-mark pass or fail judgement in Shanghai's quota allocation batch, where a pass is scored at the full 50 and a fail attracts a discretionary deduction.
When You Get Results
Scores are published before students file school choices, which is the defining feature of the modern system. Beijing's 2026 policy states that admission operates with choices filed after scores are known, and Shanghai's 2026 policy does the same. Shenzhen publishes physical education results separately and well ahead of the academic results, with a fixed deadline for recheck applications submitted through the junior high school. Written papers in 2026 were sat on 24 and 25 June in Beijing, 20 and 21 June in Shanghai and 26 to 28 June in Shenzhen, with admission running through July.
In raw terms: The published mark totals are already raw. Converting between cities is meaningless because the syllabuses and papers differ, but the internal proportions are comparable: Chinese is 19.6 per cent of the total in Beijing, 20.0 per cent in Shanghai and 19.0 per cent in Shenzhen, while physical education is 9.8 per cent in Beijing, 7.9 per cent in Shenzhen and 4.0 per cent in Shanghai.
- 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 Zhongkao?
Completion of Grade 9 of compulsory education, and registration through the junior high school the student attends. There is no separate qualification, no fee threshold and no entrance test to sit the zhongkao itself; the Ministry of Education's 2016 reform merged the junior high graduation examination and the senior high entrance examination into a single junior secondary academic proficiency test, so every Grade 9 student takes it. The constraint that actually binds is household registration. Each city sets its own rules on whether a student without local hukou may sit the local exam and which schools they may apply to. Beijing operates under a 2012 municipal scheme governing entrance examinations for children of migrant workers who completed compulsory education in the city: those who apply within the stated window and pass the qualification review may take part in admission to Beijing vocational schools. Shanghai publishes separate arrangements for students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, who take part in admission under the general rules once registered, and for students holding foreign passports, who may sit the academic proficiency test and state a preference but cannot file choices in any admission batch and are placed by the district education bureau instead; students admitted on a foreign passport are not counted against a school's enrolment plan. Some routes carry additional eligibility conditions. Shanghai's quota-to-school category is limited to Grade 9 students who have been continuously registered and studying at a non-selective junior high school for three years, with eligibility certified by the school and filed with the district education bureau. Beijing's secondary-to-bachelor articulated route and its independent admission categories each have their own qualification steps published by the examinations authority..
How much does the Zhongkao cost?
The Zhongkao exam costs ~¥50. This includes the exam fee only, study materials are additional.
How do I register for the Zhongkao?
Visit the official Provincial Education Bureaus 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 Zhongkao?
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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