Originally a common national examination, since 1985 Shanghai and Guangdong have offered their own versions, followed by other provinces. In 2015, 15 provinces and municipalities offered their own versions of the exam, although they are taken on the same days and to the same timetables.
Across China, provincial governments administer one of a range of exam types. The format 3+X is the most common – where 3 is the three national compulsory subjects of Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language and X refers either to arts or science subjects, depending on student choice. This is used in most provinces, and in Beijing, Tianjin and Chongqing. Some provinces add local requirements, for example in Shandong the format is 3+X+1 where 3 represents the three national compulsory subjects, X the arts or science subjects, and 1 a basic living proficiency test.
In all cases Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language are mandatory – the foreign language is usually English, although this may be substituted with Japanese, Russian or French. There are six other subjects, divided into two groups: science (physics, chemistry, biology) and arts (history, geography and political education). Students choose to follow one or other of these routes, and some versions of the Gaokao have an integrated science or integrated arts test, which assesses all three component subjects at the same time.