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.

LiveJEE Main 2026 Registration LIVE: NTA session 1 applications close on November 27; apply at jeemain.nta.nic.inNov 18, 2025 | 11:33 PM IST

Yes, droppers will have to reapply for the JEE Main exam for each session they plan to attend. Candidates who passed Class 12 in 2024, 2025 or are going to appear for the exam in 2026 can apply for JEE Mains 2026.

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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: 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. 

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 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: 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.

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Questions related to JEE Main

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to JEE Main ?

The date of JEE Advanced 2026 is not announced yet.

But according to previous years records we can assume that the registration for JEE Advanced 2026 exam will likely start in April and the date of exam will lie in the month of May.

For your upcoming JEE Advanced 2026 will need to study more harder than you did in your JEE Mains Exam.

Also you need to check the syllabus which is being asked in the exam. Here is the detailed information about JEE Advanced 2026 ---- Check Here

Hello,

Yes, you need an OBC-NCL certificate if you want to claim the OBC-NCL reservation in JEE Main .

Here are the key points:

  • If you want the OBC-NCL quota, you must upload a valid OBC-NCL certificate.

  • The certificate should be issued by the government and must follow the latest format.

  • It should usually be issued on or after 1 April of the current admission year.

  • If you do not have a valid certificate, you will be treated as a General (Unreserved) candidate.

If you apply under General category, then no OBC certificate is needed.

Hope it helps !

Hello,

Yes, transistor is included in the JEE Main 2026 Physics syllabus .

Topics generally covered are:

  • Junction transistor and its working

  • Characteristics of a transistor

  • Transistor as an amplifier (common-emitter)

  • Transistor as a switch

  • Basic use of transistor in simple circuits

Hope it helps !

Hi Vejendla Pooja

NTA (National Testing Agency) conducts the JEE Main exam for science stream students who appear or have passed class 12th and want to get admission to undergraduate courses like B.Tech (Bachelor of Technology) or BE (Bachelor of Engineering).

The "Enrollment Number" for the JEE Mains exam refers to the class 11th registration number, which is issued by the school. This number is compulsory for all the students who want to give the JEE Mains exam, and this number is used for verification purposes, such as academic records and cross-checking.

If you do not have this enrollment number, you should contact your school administration to get it, and without this number, you cannot register for the JEE Mains exam 2025-2026.

I hope this information helps you.

Best Wishes.

Hello,

In 2025, IIT Madras JEE Advanced, closing ranks are around 171 for CSE, 306 for AI & Data Analytics, 849 for Electrical, about 1300 for Computational Engineering, around 1440 for Engineering Physics, 2468 for Mechanical, and about 6112 for Civil.

To know more access below mentioned link:

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-advanced-cutoff-for-iit-madras

Hope it helps.