---
title: 'The Hardest Maths Exam in the World! | Chinese Gaokao (高考)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZwLXgy-wSsI'
video_id: 'ZwLXgy-wSsI'
date: 2026-08-17
duration_sec: 940
channel: 'Shane Huang'
---

# The Hardest Maths Exam in the World! | Chinese Gaokao (高考)

> Source: [The Hardest Maths Exam in the World! | Chinese Gaokao (高考)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZwLXgy-wSsI)

## Summary

This video documents a YouTuber's attempt to take the Chinese Gaokao mathematics exam, widely considered one of the hardest high school exams in the world. The creator competes against a top Chinese student, Papaya, who scored 148/150 on the actual exam, with a wager of $2,000 on the line. The video highlights the exam's difficulty, the creator's struggles, and the eventual outcome, offering insights into the Gaokao's rigor and preparation strategies.

### Key Points

- **The Challenge Setup** [00:03] — The creator introduces the Gaokao as arguably the hardest high school exam globally and sets up a challenge against Papaya, a top student who scored 148/150 and is a gold medalist in the Chinese Mathematics Olympiad. They agree to a $2,000 wager, with the creator needing only half of Papaya's score to win, and both have one hour instead of the usual two.
- **Initial Struggles** [01:09] — The creator quickly realizes the difficulty, noting it's been nearly five years since their last math exam and they've forgotten important formulas, making the questions nearly impossible to solve.
- **Difficulty Comparison** [02:48] — The creator compares the Gaokao to Australia's HSC Extension 2 math paper, stating the Gaokao is much harder with more complex problem-solving. They struggle to even write answers, while Papaya solves problems 'like a machine.'
- **Marking and Mistakes** [04:40] — A marker, Lydia from Tsinghua University, evaluates the papers. The creator gets some early questions correct, including a lucky multiple-choice guess, but then makes many careless errors, such as confusing 5+5 with 5+10, highlighting the test's focus on detail.
- **Cheating Attempt** [08:09] — The creator tries to cheat by writing answers during marking, but is caught by Papaya. This adds a humorous element and shows the creator's desperation.
- **Final Scores** [10:41] — Papaya scores 125/150 in one hour, while the creator scores 45. The creator reflects that with more care, they could have gained 20 extra points, which would have been half of Papaya's score, but ultimately loses the bet and pays $1,000.
- **Preparation Tips** [12:25] — Papaya shares that Gaokao students practice one to two papers every week, totaling around 120-130 papers, and notes that students from more intense provinces might do over 200. He emphasizes practice and carefulness as key to improvement.
- **Post-Exam Reflections** [13:05] — Papaya admits he expected a full score in one hour but found the exam time-consuming. The creator believes they could score 140 if the exam were in English and they had more time, but acknowledges the challenge.

### Conclusion

The Gaokao math exam is exceptionally difficult, even for top students, and requires extensive practice and attention to detail. The video demonstrates that even a well-prepared student like Papaya can make mistakes under time pressure, while a casual attempt by an unprepared test-taker results in a significantly lower score.

## Transcript

garcal is arguably the hardest High School exam in the world but how hard actually is the Chinese girl call today I'll be finding out for myself by taking the girl called maths paper and I'll be competing against one of the smartest
students in China this is papaya he scored a 148 out of 150 for his girl called Mass actual paper the highest in his Province and he was also a gold medalist in the Chinese mathematics Olympiad he is also ranked first in his
financial maths major at Peking University one of the top two universities in China to make it interesting we're going to put some money on the line whoever loses pays the other person two thousand
dollars clearly this isn't very fair to me the test is in Chinese he's done hundreds of practice papers before and he's obviously a lot smarter than me so we agree that for me to win all I need is half his score now instead of
the prescribed two hours we're only going to be given one hour to complete it so let's get into it and see who comes out on top and see if the alcohol comes out on top and see if the alcohol is really as hard as they say
very soon after starting the test I realized maybe this challenge wasn't a it's been nearly five years since I did a maths exam and I've forgotten some pretty important formulas which means I have no chance of solving the question
having had my proposal of just giving papaya one thousand dollars now to cancel the challenge being rejected I have no other choice but to just try my best and maybe call on a little outside help from cameraman Jason
attends National Taiwan University the top university in Taiwan so I'm really hoping that he's got some smart brain power he can share with me
and I asked three R to the power of three three surface area I don't know I don't know
ultra power or streets two of course it's surface
struggle through this paper this test itself is not easy at all a lot harder than Australia's HSC extension to mass paper with more complex problem solving and having not done maths in four years and forgetting formulas is definitely
not helping either you can clearly see that my pen barely touches the paper because I've got no idea what to do while papaya is writing down in Solutions like a machine however not all hope is lost as I only
however not all hope is lost as I only need 50 of his score last minute [Music] [Music] upstairs though
hands out okay yeah how do you think you went no I think I did not well very bad what's that I
did not well very bad what's that I cannot get a full score flower it's very cannot get a full score flower it's very sad
think I will get 50 let me evaluate it I I don't think I can because I I did I the long answer questions ah
if you look you can now cash out no if you look I I want him to cash out
uh the winner gets two thousand dollars I just pay him one thousand dollars now hahaha our marker has arrived hi Marco this is our friend Lydia she goes to Ching Hua University the other school alongside
Papaya's pecking University that all students in China dream of getting into papers including the questions where worked solution is required first couple questions correct including a multiple choice question that was a
complete guess okay so but then it's all downhill from there
something done it's ax sorry
oh yeah it should be yeah it should be dude it's total and totally they're plus one this one I thought it was five plus five
not but it's five plus ten hi this is so many stupid mistakes oh my hi this is so many stupid mistakes oh my God is like a test about details ah just rusty rusty otherwise I would normally get I would under no circumstances get
15. sorry but no no no no wait look at this we filmed this see over here to here
so how many do I get right in the multiple choice I think multiple choice I think four oh three three three three no among the yellow oh I mean yeah
is less than 1.5 yeah but they cannot be like all like y x equals to 1.5
very hard and when I use the knowledge from college it's so normally I think you should deduct by like a little so that it will be nicer for sure
because he got zero that should be illegal okay illegal because I feel like his world will be so bad you know show some sympathy so I've
been ridiculed and my test score is probably going to look embarrassing but I do have a little trick up my sleeve but when the marker isn't looking please note I do not recommend this for your actual exams
I discovered what don't you dare what do you mean he what don't you dare what do you mean he wrote this just now marking the rest of the questions and adding up our scores let's hear the
adding up our scores let's hear the post-exam thoughts yeah I can't finish at one hour but if I got two hours
[Laughter] [Applause] yeah I think next time I will adapt better strategy like if I only got
one hour I will focus on some of the harder question not to all of them and get them wrong papa is thinking of how to improve
because we keep this chanting me when I doing the paper but I think that is fair because Shen need to Shane cannot translate the question
Shane did a good straight but you were very helpful when I asked you for a while you just said I don't know I really I really don't know I tried to help but I really cannot help Jason because two alpha
because two alpha I don't know 50 it's like it's like I got my scores 50 at the 15 minutes
50 at the 15 minutes so I finished all the small passion okay let me do a final check okay okay so for papaya in one hour you scored
papaya in one hour you scored oh 125. oh 150
uh I think I'm around 40. papaya Papa I think I guess it's 35. it's 35. [Laughter]
[Laughter] that's so rude 45 45. that's so rude 45 45. okay so congratulations papaya you are great oh well oh
are more careful if I was more careful I got a 15 more yeah if you're more careful I think more than 50. this is why I couldn't at this one this one this one yeah this one and then this one four four four four
this one four four four four [Music]
I'm sorry but it's nice it's two it's like 20 total extra points it's two it's like 20 total extra points it's like half of your accounts score 65 it's like half of your accounts score 65 would have been enough I know but the
point is adding 20 is like adding half of your score of your score ah interesting do you have any tips on how I can get better if I wanted to
be more careful practice more do like for us at least we will do one paper yeah every at least we will do one paper yeah every week I mean it's actually two papers
week I mean it's actually two papers every week I think in total a hundred and a hundred something a hundred and twenty Thirty but the other thing is I'm from Shanghai like Shanghai is like a really chill not so chill but
is like a really chill not so chill but still not as intense as others is I think they will probably double our yeah I think probably with with the exercise I think probably with with the exercise more than 200 yeah
papaya congratulations thank you one thousand dollars thank you your score today you got 125 out of 150. what are your thoughts on that yeah I think at first I expect I got the
yeah I think at first I expect I got the full scores in one hour but but it's turned out I looked down go call yeah yeah it has some questions that's very yeah it has some questions that's very time consuming and oh so so excited
yeah I think I think I think one team's foreign whenever you didn't get full scores you keep yourself doing it and practicing
you can also follow me on cell phone if you want okay Shane what's your thought oh well I mean yeah I could have done a lot better uh there were a few sleep mistakes I made in a multiple choice but I could have got 20 extra points and I
could have got half of the highest score but well I haven't done Maths for a few years and also the translations were a little bit dodgy so I don't think it was
know what's the problem otherwise I think yeah if it was in English and like I had time no distraction I probably would have got about 140 Maybe
sure you will yeah no I I think I think you are a good thank you you are a good thank you but I would go 150.
experience of Coco so yeah it's already it's very good do you think 45 is actually very good why not for the first time
after this video [Laughter] wait I think they're both do the Australian Goku oh yeah yeah I think I could actually win in that one really yeah I don't think so
give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to see my next video where I will challenge papaya to a rematch where we do the HSC extension 2 maths paper and this is where I'll try to get my money back