Education Nation: China’s Exam Fetish

Education Nation: China’s Exam Fetish

From The Little Red Podcast by Graeme Smith and Louisa Lim

December 8, 2025 · 48 min

About this episode

This episode explores the implications of China's gaokao exam on education and social structures.

China’s college exam, the gaokao , is fetishized as the ultimate test, yet a lesser-known story is how it entrenches regional education discrimination. Its role at social engineering is also clear, with AI suddenly becoming the sixth most popular major in China, on command from above. This month, the  Little Red Podcast sets the first ever podcast gaokao . The intrepid test-takers are Edward Vickers from Kyushu University, co-author of  Education and Society in Post-Mao China and host of the Asian Education Podcast , Karron Huang, who is studying for a Masters in early childhood education at the University of Melbourne and sat the gaokao in 2015, and Ruixue Xia from the University of California San Diego who coauthored The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China . Image: c/- Karron Huang. Morning gaokao study session, Foshan No. 1 High School, Guangdong, 2015. Transcripts are available at https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Graeme Smith, Louisa Lim

Guests: Edward Vickers, Karron Huang, Ruixue Xia

Topics covered

  • education
  • China
  • gaokao
  • regional discrimination
  • AI in education
  • social engineering

Keywords

  • gaokao
  • China education
  • regional discrimination
  • AI majors
  • college exam

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kyushu University, University of Melbourne, University of California San Diego

Books & works: Education and Society in Post-Mao China, The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China

Places: China, Foshan No. 1 High School, Guangdong

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