Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Comparison of World’s Toughest Exams

Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Comparison of World’s Toughest Exams

K Guna SahitiUpdated on 14 Dec 2024, 05:49 AM IST

Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - The JEE exam is the most popular engineering entrance exam in India. Whilst, Gaokao is a national-level standardised entrance exam for most UG admissions in China. The participation rate for Gaokao is 10 times higher than JEE, owing to its unlimited attempts and inclusion of a vast number of courses. In 2024, there were around 13.4 M test takers for Gaokao. In the same year, the number of applicants for JEE stood around 1.4 M. Gaokao is known as one of the most difficult tests because of its gruelling nature. However, preparation for JEE is also quite demanding. For more such comparisons between Gaokao and JEE 2025, please go through this page.

This Story also Contains

  1. Gaokao Vs JEE 2025
  2. Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Exam Overview
  3. Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Rate of Acceptance
  4. Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Preparation
Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Comparison of World’s Toughest Exams
Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Comparison of World’s Toughest Exams

Gaokao Vs JEE 2025

Aspects

JEE

Gaokao

Examination for

Admission to participating engineering colleges

For all undergraduate admissions (irrespective of desired course)

When it is held

JEE Main - January and April

JEE Advanced - July

Early June

Number of students appeared in 2024

1.4 million

13.42 million

Number of days

Single day

2 to 4 days

Test duration

3 hours (JEE Main)

6 hours (JEE Advanced)

9 hours

Compulsory subjects

Physics, chemistry and maths (paper 1)

Maths, General Aptitude and Drawing/Planning (paper 2)

Mathematics, Chinese, one foreign language and course-oriented subject.

Frequency

Twice

Once

Acceptance rates

1% in IITs

0.1% in top universities

Difficulty

Long exam - extensive memorization and application skills

Emphasis on deep conceptual understanding and problem solving

Preparation time

Intense study schedules required starting from high school years

2 to 5 years ahead for IIT admission

Attempt limit

No limit

Six times in three consecutive years starting from the year of qualifying class 12th

China's Gaokao: World’s toughest exam (Explained) | Comparison of Gaokao, JEE, and SAT Comparison between Gaokao and JEE 2025


Aspirants can go through the differences and similarities between JEE and Gaokao here.

Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Exam Overview

  • Duration- Gaokao and IIT JEE are known as two of the toughest exams in the world. Gaokao is held for 9 hours in the span of 2 to 4 days. Whereas, JEE main is held for 3 hours and JEE Advanced is conducted for 6 hours in a single day.

  • Number of Attempts - There is no limit to the number of attempts for Gaokao. It is held once a year. On the other hand, JEE Main is conducted twice per year and JEE Advanced is held once. Candidates can take JEE Main 6 times in three consecutive years, starting from the year of passing class 12th. Whereas, the IIT JEE Advanced attempt limit is restricted to two times in two consecutive years.

  • Number of Applicants- Every year, approximately 1.3 to 1.4 million candidates register for JEE. Since Gaokao is an entrance exam for all UG admissions and there is no attempt limit, around 13.4 million aspirants take this exam every year.

  • Difficulty level- One can not exactly compare the difficulty level of both the tests, since the focus of the exam and syllabus vary. Nonetheless, Gaokao is considered tougher due to its gruelling nature.

Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Rate of Acceptance

Each year around 85% of Gaokao examinees are successful in gaining admission to UG programmes. However, the acceptance rate by Gaokao is around 0.1% for elite universities like Peking University, Xinjiang University etc. When it comes to the JEE-based admission rate, only 1% of students get admission to IIT colleges in India.

Gaokao Vs JEE 2025 - Preparation

Students are known to start their preparation for Gaokao in their early High School years. The test preparation schedules are extremely intense, equipping aspirants with the knowledge and patience to deal with the exam pressure.

JEE Main and JEE Advanced preparation starts 2 to 5 years before the actual exam. Students enrol in coaching classes for additional preparation.

JEE Main Syllabus: Subjects & Chapters
Select your preferred subject to view the chapters

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How many attempts for JEE Mains?
A:

Aspirants can take JEE Mains six times in three consecutive years starting from the year of clearing the 12th class.

Q: Is GATE harder than IIT JEE?
A:

Yes, GATE is considered harder than IIT JEE because of the level of the exam. GATE is held for admission to Master level courses.

Q: Is Gaokao tougher than UPSC?
A:

The difficulty level of the exam depends on different factors. Gaokao is a single-level entrance exam for UG admissions. Whereas, UPSC is a three-stage competitive exam. However, both are difficult in their own way. 

Q: Is Gaokao tougher than JEE Advanced?
A:

Gaokao is an exam held for nine hours and JEE Advanced is held for six hours. Gaokao is widely known to be more difficult than most exams due to its long duration and vast syllabus. The questions asked in Gaokao are application-based and require more memorization. Whereas, the JEE exam requires conceptual clarity while solving the given problems. 

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Questions related to JEE Main

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to JEE Main ?

Hi aspirant,

If you are willing to give jee and you are in 12 th then it is best to focus from now on as u have to give your boards this year as well . And according to the exam pattern you can prepare for your jee prelims with you boards at the same time it is hardly differ from each other . But if you have 0 preparation and even your basics are not clear then i suggest u to take a drop and prepare to the fullest for next year thankyou .

Hello Hari

You can find JEE Mains last 10 year Previous Year Questions (PYQs) with detailed solution at CAREERS360 website . CAREERS360 provide JEE Mains as well as JEE Advance questions with solutions in many languages like English and Hindi.

Here's the link: JEE Mains Last 10 Years PYQs by CAREERS360

Hope this link helps! Thank You!!!


Hello Aspirant,

If you already have a Class 12 from NIOS in April 2025 with 67%, you are technically considered a “pass”. But, now since you are reappearing for Class 12 through BOSSE (Sikkim) in October 2025, in order to increase your percentage to 75% (for eligibility) here is how it works:

In the JEE Main Application Form:

  • Choose "Appearing" for Class 12 (you will be giving the BOSSE oct 2025 exam).
  • Enter the passing year as 2025.

For JoSAA Counselling:

  • You must submit the latest valid marksheet, that states you have obtained more than 75%.
  • If your result from BOSSE (oct 2025) comes before counselling/document verification, then to submit BOSSE marksheet.
  • If you only submit NIOS marksheet (67%), you will not then meet the criteria for 75%, so you may be excluded from admission

Here’s a plan for JEE Mains 2026 in 4 months:

1. Divide time: 2 months for Class 12 syllabus, 1 month for Class 11, 1 month for full revision & mock tests.

2. Daily schedule: 6–7 hours study; 50% for theory & problem-solving, 50% for practice & revision.

3. Topic-wise focus: Prioritize high-weightage chapters and weak areas first.

4. Daily problem practice: Solve previous year questions and chapter-wise exercises.

5. Weekly tests: Take 1 full-length test weekly, analyze mistakes, and revise weak concepts.

6. Consistency: Avoid skipping days; maintain notes and formula sheets for quick revision.


If you want to crack JEE exam you read to dedicatedly prepared for that from the scratch to the advance focus on high weightage topic and prepare question in the time based and continuously practice the previous question this will help to know the pattern of JEE exam questions