The National Higher Education Entrance Examination is an academic examination held annually in the mainland of China. This examination is an essential condition for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level. It is usually taken by students in their last year of high school, although there has been no age restriction since 2001.

The Examination is administered uniformly within each province of China or direct-controlled municipality, graded on a scale of 100-900 points. It is arranged at the end of the spring semester and secondary school graduates across the country take the examination simultaneously, over a three day period in June.

Three subjects are mandatory everywhere: Chinese, Mathematics and a foreign language - usually English. The other 6 standard subjects are Chemistry, Biology, Geography and Political Education. Scores obtained in the examinations can be used in applying universities outside China. Among all the places, the counterpart Hong Kong is on the top list.

The Examination is essentially the only criterion for education admissions. A poor performance on the test almost always means giving up on that goal. Students hoping to attend university will spend most of their waking moments studying prior to the exam. If they fail in their first attempt, some of them repeat the last year of high school life and make another attempt the following year.