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 at jeemain.nta.nic.in; fee, syllabus, updatesNov 19, 2025 | 9:53 PM IST

For JEE Main 2026 registration, candidates should upload a recent passport-size photograph in colour with a white background. The image should be in JPG or JPEG format, meet the size and dimension requirements specified by NTA, and clearly show the candidate’s face without any obstruction.

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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 ?

Hi SHOURYA

There is no problem if you upload a mismatched photo in the JEE Mains registration form, which does not match your newly updated Aadhar card photo.

Here are some steps which you can take -

  • First, submit your JEE Mains registration form correctly.
  • Second, wait for the opening of the correction window of JEE Mains 2026, which would be expected to open 1-5 December 2025.
  • Until you update your name, exam city and other details.

I hope this information helps you. If you know more about the JEE Mains exam, you can visit our official website, careers360.

Here is the link - https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-main-application-form-correction

Best Wishes.

Hello M.Siri

The JEE Mains 2026 high-weightage topics are -

Physics

  • Modern Physics - This topic has very high weightage in the JEE Mains exam.
  • Electrodynamics - It includes Electrostatics and Magnetism.
  • Mechanics - Kinematics, Laws of Motion and Rotational Motion are important topics.
  • Thermodynamics - The Whole chapter is very important.

Mathematics

  • Calculus: Integral and Differential Calculus are important topics.
  • Coordinate Geometry: Conical Section has heavy weightage.
  • Algebra: Matrices and Determinants, Complex Numbers and Quadratic equations are important chapters.
  • Vectors and 3D Geometry: Try to cover the whole chapter.
  • Statistics and Probability: High weightage in the JEE exam.

Chemistry

  • Organic Chemistry: Cover the whole chapter.
  • Chemical Bonding and Atomic Structure: understanding of fundamental concepts.
  • Coordination Compound
  • Equilibrium: Both Chemical and Ionic equilibrium are important.
  • Inorganic Chemistry: Try to cover the whole chapter.

I hope this information helps you.

Thank You.

Hello,

You do not need to worry.

If your 10th online result copy clearly shows your name, roll number, school name, board name, and marks, then NTA usually accepts it. For JEE Main application, the Class 10 certificate is only for verification of your date of birth , not for marks.

But if NTA gives a correction window and allows replacing the document, it is better to upload the proper 10th board mark sheet . This avoids any doubt later.

Sugessions:

  • If correction window opens then Re-upload the correct 10th mark sheet .

  • If no option is given then your current document is normally fine.

No need to panic. This is a common mistake.

Hope it helps !

Hello there!

JEE mains consist of three subjects physics, chemistry and math. There are several authors whose books you can refer for JEE mains exam preparation.

Following is the link attached where all the information about the best books for JEE mains preparation is given. Kindly go through this. Hope it helps!

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/best-books-for-jee-main

Thank you !


Hi,

In your JEE application, you have to write the application number of your c entral caste certificate because for central government admissions like JEE, you have to use details of your central caste certificate. NTA asks for the application number, which is written on the upper side of the central caste certificate.

Hope it helps!!!