What Are The Toughest Exams In The World

Candidates aiming for top institutions or high-end jobs face rigorous selection processes, often with multiple assessment stages like tests and interviews. Here’s a list of the toughest global exams, key to accessing prestigious colleges or elite careers.

Gaokao Exam in China: This exam is for admission to top Chinese universities, with a pass rate of less than 0.25%

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA): Regarded as one of the most respected designations in finance, the CFA exam has a pass rate of less than 20%

IIT JEE: Among the toughest exams globally, it’s conducted in India for admission to prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), comprising two levels: JEE Mains and JEE Advanced

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): This exam selects candidates for elite Indian administrative services, IAS, IFS, IPS, with a success rate between 0.1% to 0.4%.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE): Required for admission to many graduate schools, it can be taken multiple times within a year

United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE): A three-step examination for medical licenses in the US, spanning from eight hours to two days

Mensa International: The Mensa International is not a test but an international organisation for a group of top test scorers. Mensa is a high-intelligence IQ society whose members have a higher IQ than the 98th percentile. With over 150,000 members from 90+ countries, Mensa is the oldest high-IQ society in the world. 

Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert- CCIE: Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE certification) is a series of technical certifications for senior networking professionals who design, build, implement, maintain and troubleshoot complex enterprise networking infrastructures.