Gaokao not only way to be successful in life

It's that time of the year when college and university admission letters make their way to hopeful students. Interestingly, the heat surrounding gaokao, or the college entrance exam, seems to have cooled off a bit this year, perhaps paving the way for some cooler heads and wittier thoughts to prevail.

The number of students registered for gaokao this year declined to 13.35 million — 70,000 fewer than in 2024. It's the first such decline since 2018.

One of the important reasons for this decline is the reduction in the number of candidates of eligible age. This year, most of the participants taking gaokao were born in 2006 or 2007, and the number of births in these two years was lower compared with the preceding years. What's more, with the advancement of the new gaokao reform and the diversification of admission methods, the proportion of students taking gaokao in some regions has decreased.