The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) has been featured as the world's fifth largest exams in the recently published State Bank of India Research report. China's Gaokao has topped the list followed by Brazil's ENEM and Guokao civil-service exam of China.
As per SBI Research report, China's Gaokao is the world's largest exam with 12.9 crore students taking the exam annually, Brazil's ENEM - 4.8 crore, Guokao Central civil-service exam (China) - 3.7 crore, National master’s entrance exam (China) - 3.4 crore, NEET UG - 2.5 million.
Top 10 world's largest exams
| Exam Name | Country | Number of candidates |
| Gaokao | China | 12.9 crore |
| ENEM | Brazil | 4.8 crore |
| Central civil-service examination (Guokao) |
China | 3.4 crore |
| National master’s entrance examination |
China | 3.4 crore |
| NEET UG | India | 2.5 million |
| YKS | Türkiye | 2.4 million |
| UTME | Nigeria | 2.2 million |
| SAT | US/ international | 2 million |
| SSC and equivalent examinations |
Bangladesh | 1.8 million |
|
ACT
|
US | 1.4 million |
Top 4 largest exams in India
- NEET UG: 2.5 million
- JEE Main: 1 million
- UPSC CSE: 1.2 million
- UGC-NET: 0.8 million.
What is Gaokao?
The modern Gaokao, introduced in 1952, is one of the toughest exam in the world. Every year, over 10 million students appeared for Gaokao; 13.35 million sat for the Gaokao 2025 while 13.42 million students took the test in 2024. Gaokao, China's national college entrance exam assesses a candidate's knowledge across multiple subjects- Chinese, Maths, English, plus subjects of choice among three streams- Humanities, Science and Commerce. To check malpractices, stringent measures such as AI-powered cameras are being installed in exam centres, drones and other high-tech tools are being used to watch over the process.
Gaokao vs JEE/ NEET
The basic difference between Gaokao and JEE/ NEET is that Gaokao is a single exam which determines students' admissions into universities/ colleges. While JEE is held for admissions to engineering colleges and NEET for admissions to medical institutes.
Every year, Gaokao witnesses participation of over a crore candidates, while JEE typically attracts 10 to 15 lakh candidates, NEET - around 20 lakh.
NEET to be held online from 2027?
Is NEET UG going to be held online from 2027? As per report, the Ministry of Education is developing a national examination-grade computer-based testing (CBT) infrastructure strategy to ensure a seamless transition of medical entrance from the pen-and-paper to online mode, said officials.
"A national examination-grade CBT infrastructure strategy is being formulated to close the geographic gap in test-centre availability, standardise centre-level examination-grade specifications and to permit the migration to CBT from the pen-and-paper mode examinations. The strategy is under active consideration based on a multi-model sourcing architecture," a senior Ministry of Education official told PTI, on the condition of anonymity.
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