Aug. 22, 2025 

Summary for Educators: The Test That Rules Chinese Society

The gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam, is far more than an academic assessment. Each June, for two days, the nation pauses as 10 million students take the test that determines their educational and often social future. Streets quiet, families pray, and communities rally around this defining moment. While many countries use standardized tests, none match the gaokao’s scale, intensity, or societal consequences, making it a unique case study for educators worldwide.

A Pyramid of Opportunity

China’s higher education system is structured as a pyramid. At the top are about 100 elite universities (Tier 1), followed by several thousand four-year universities (Tiers 2–4), and finally vocational colleges at the base. Admission is determined almost entirely by gaokao scores, unlike U.S. admissions, which consider multiple factors. Only the top 5% of students (about 500,000 annually) secure Tier 1 spots, making the exam an unforgiving zero-sum contest. For families, success in this system justifies significant investment: Chinese households spend 7.9% of their income on education, compared to the global average of 2–3%.

The Tutoring Arms Race

Because the gaokao measures relative performance, parents seek any edge for their children. Tutoring becomes essential, beginning as early as age four or five. Admission into a top high school requires prior success in middle school, which itself depends on elementary-level testing. Wealthier families can afford elite tutoring and housing in better school districts, cementing inequality. In Beijing, apartments in top districts cost more per square foot than those in Palo Alto, California, underlining the economic weight attached to education.

Policy Responses and Their Limits

China has recognized the inequality and stress the gaokao generates. In 2021, the government banned for-profit tutoring to reduce financial strain on families. However, this only pushed tutoring underground, raising costs further and narrowing access for poorer students. Likewise, efforts such as increasing the education budget (now over 4% of GDP) and lottery-based school district assignments have had limited impact. The cultural mantra “Don’t let your children lose at the starting line” continues to fuel intense competition.

Benefits and Trade-offs

The gaokao-driven system has clear strengths. It emphasizes hard skills like mathematics and logic as well as soft skills like discipline and perseverance. These qualities prepare students for success in higher education and the workforce. However, the system also narrows focus: “teaching to the test” reduces opportunities for creative exploration, critical thinking, and social-emotional skill development. Graduates of elite universities often reap life-changing benefits, but broader innovation and interpersonal growth may suffer.

Comparisons with the U.S.

American education, though less rigorous in standardized testing, places greater emphasis on fostering creativity, social skills, and well-roundedness—traits increasingly important in a global workforce shaped by automation and artificial intelligence. In contrast, the Chinese model rewards conformity and mastery of predefined knowledge, aligning with a society structured as a hierarchical tournament. This model discourages the “creative destruction” necessary for long-term innovation.

Implications for Educators

For global educators, the gaokao illustrates both the power and the dangers of test-based accountability. Its strengths—rigor, equity through uniform standards, and discipline—are worth emulating in moderation. Yet its costs—stress, inequality, and constrained creativity—serve as cautionary lessons. Balancing structure with flexibility, content mastery with critical inquiry, and assessment with creativity remains the challenge for educators worldwide.

As Professors Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li conclude, China’s education system mirrors its society: competitive, hierarchical, and high-stakes. Any reform of the gaokao must therefore be tied to broader cultural and structural change. For educators outside China, the gaokao provides an extraordinary lens on how assessments can shape not just learning, but entire societies.