10.78 million students will attend the Chinese college entrance test, the gaokao (高考), this year, China’s official news agency, Xinhua, reported today, Wednesday.
The number marks a slight increase from 10.71 million last year. The number of test centers and monitors has also increased, Xinhua said.
From Monday to Tuesday, June 6 – 7, 2021, students all over China will sit the (in)famous exam. The score determines whether they can get into the university they hoped for, or whether they will have to make do with a less prestigious one.
Though the test varies from province to province, it generally includes tests of Chinese literature, mathematics and a foreign language (in most cases English). If students choose liberal arts as specialty in high school, they need to take additional tests related to history, politics and geography. If they choose science, they will take physics, chemistry and biology tests.
Last year, the gaokao was postponed for a month to July 7 and 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.