China’s gaokao exam gets less competitive as more teens opt to skip university

The number of students sitting China’s university entrance exams is on the decline, as teens decide not to pursue a degree amid a graduate job crunch

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Listen

Students walk out of an examination hall after sitting China’s national college entrance exam in the eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: Xinhua

Emma Main Shanghai

Published: 11:00am, 5 Jun 2026Updated: 12:03pm, 5 Jun 2026

China has reported a second consecutive decline in the number of students sitting the country’s national university-entrance exams, as a graduate jobs crunch leads many teenagers to decide against pursuing an academic degree.

A total of 12.9 million students have registered for this year’s National Higher Education Entrance Examination – known as the gaokao in China – down 450,000 from a year ago, according to data from the Ministry of Education released on Wednesday. In 2025, the number of sign-ups fell by 70,000 compared with the previous year.

For decades, the gaokao has been known for being brutally competitive, with families often viewing the test as having the potential to make or break a young person’s future. But attitudes are beginning to change as millions of university graduates struggle to secure jobs amid China’s economic slowdown, according to market observers.

China’s youth unemployment rate was still hovering above 16 per cent in April, and competition is set to become even more intense this summer when a record 12.7 million fresh graduates enter the job market.

With such an oversupply of talent, employers are often cherry-picking candidates from top universities, meaning graduates of less-prestigious schools are frequently being overlooked, according to recruitment agents.

“An increasing number of vocational secondary school graduates are prioritising employment, rather than higher education,” said Chen Zhiwen, a member of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, a Beijing-based education research organisation.

China’s gaokao exam gets less competitive as more teens opt to skip university

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The number of students sitting China’s university entrance exams is on the decline, as teens decide not to pursue a degree amid a graduate job crunch

The number of students sitting China’s university entrance exams is on the decline, as teens decide not to pursue a degree amid a graduate job crunch