© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Change 10.1007/978-3-030-87624-1_244-1 The National College Entrance Examination in China (Gaokao): A Discreet Driver for Global Social Change Emilia Szekely 1, 2 (1)University Program of Studies on Asia and Africa, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico (2)Department of International Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Emilia Szekely Email: emiliaszekely@gmail.com Abstract As a requirement for admission to higher education, the Gaokao (高考) or National College Entrance Examination is one of the main drivers of social change in China. This document explores how, with its rules and criteria for merit, it has influenced the profile of one of the largest and most influential populations on the planet and how, with the reform that the country has been promoting since 2013, this profile is being transformed. The experience with the Gaokao contributes many interesting elements to the global discussion on the possibilities and challenges of education. KeywordsStandardized tests -Gaokao -Education for development -Education equity -Education in China -Education reform -National College Entrance Examination in China 1 Introduction Although it is obvious that school is not the only place where one learns about life, the school experience is undoubtedly one of the factors that has the most influence on our way of thinking, of understanding the world, of relating to others. Imagine the impact that, for better or worse, the enormous expansion in educational coverage worldwide has had on the way in which humans treat each other, organize themselves and solve problems, etc. Although access to formal education has increased tremendously unevenly in recent decades, the average number of years spent in school has grown throughout the world, especially since World War II, and in countries like China the change has been so radical that the percentage of people