Toughest Exams in the World 2023: Top 10 Difficult Exam List

When you have a specific objective in mind, preparing for a test may be enjoyable. The test, despite all of this, serves as a doorway. It would be like taking a step closer to your goal if you passed your tests.

Exams that are difficult to pass assist examiners in choosing the best and most deserving individuals from the pool of applicants for prominent schools and high-profile companies. As a result, it’s time to get things started.

World’s Top 10 Toughest Exams 2023

Check out the list of world’s toughest and hardest exam. You may also share your concern, if any, through the comment box below.

1. Gaokao

Gaokao is unquestionably one of the most difficult tests in the world. According to the Gaokao examination, pupils must devote 12 years of their lives to preparing for the exam. Chinese institutions solely accept applicants based on this test. Because of this, it is clear that the Gaokao exam is designed to measure students’ knowledge and abilities.

There are two days and 10 hours in total for Gaokao. The Gaokao test is comparable to the JEE Main in India or the SAT in the United States. The Gaokao test is given to high school students in their third and final year of schooling. If you’re looking for a certain day, it’s generally between June 7 and 9.

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Any student interested in the sciences must take the requisite tests in these subjects: math, physics, chemistry, and biology. As for liberal arts majors, they’ll have to sit for classes in geography and history as well as political science.

Every province in China has its own unique test syllabus, which is constantly being updated. While this is true, the Gaokao exam also includes sections on Chinese literature and mathematics (mostly English).

2. Union Public Services Commission

Did you know that the UPSC Preliminary test attracts over 5 million candidates? You can tell how difficult this exam is by the fact that there are only a few hundred spots available. To fill government jobs with qualified engineers, UPSC conducts the IES test.

UPSC is in the top ten list of most difficult exams in the world. A number of government agencies in India, including the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Revenue Service, and others, hold recruitment drives for new employees by holding the UPSC test. It is also one of India’s most difficult exams.

There are three tiers to the UPSC test. There are two objective papers on broad themes to be taken in the Prelims phase. The Mains test, which must be passed to move on to the next round of selection, will be taken by the selected applicants. The Mains exam consists of seven individual papers.

Candidates who have passed the first screening phase will move on to the interview stage, where a panel of experts will judge them. The candidate’s intelligence, personality, and logical reasoning would be assessed.

3. JEE Main

As one of the most challenging tests in the world, the JEE Main is a well-known name. Furthermore, preparing for the JEE Main is a challenging process that requires a high level of dedication, patience, and fortitude.

In 2022, there were 10 lakh individuals enrolled for JEE Main. Candidates preparing for JEE Main have to study a large amount of material under the direction of an expert.

In addition, this entrance exam’s questions are completely unpredictable. JEE Main is one of the most difficult exams in the world to pass because of these factors. The Siemens Scholarship is another option for engineering students who have been accepted into the program.

4. GRE

In order to earn an internationally recognized diploma, do you want to attend one of the world’s most prominent universities? This means that taking the GRE is a critical next step in your preparations for graduate school.

Graduate Record Examination is the abbreviation for GRE. GRE is one of the hardest exams in the world and is designed to measure the abilities of students who aspire to study abroad.

A large number of U.S. colleges and universities use the GRE as a means of admitting students to a variety of degree programs. Many people want to study abroad, and the GRE test is a stepping stone toward that goal. All of these factors combine to make the GRE a difficult nut to crack.

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5. Mensa

Are you curious about the world’s most difficult exam? Then there’s Mensa, which shouldn’t be overlooked. Mensa is an organization for those with an I.Q. Above 140. Mensa members have a higher I.Q. Then those in the 98th percentile of the population. I.Q. The organization administers one of the most difficult exams in the world to determine the intellect of applicants based on logic, problem-solving, and reasoning.

The Mensa organization has a high level of public trust in nearly every nation in which it operates. It’s a great accomplishment just to pass the test.

6. Law school Admissions Test (LSAT)

Canada, the U.S., and Australia all provide LSAT testing as a way to determine eligibility for law school. The duration of this test is more than six hours. It is designed to evaluate the applicant’s reading comprehension, logical thinking, and verbal reasoning abilities.

In order to go into law school, a candidate must pass the Law School Admission Council’s test. Despite the fact that it has been there since 1948, the current iteration dates back to 1991. Only three opportunities are given to a candidate in a two-year period to pass the test.

In 1947, delegates from Harvard and Yale Law School met with Columbia Law School Admissions Director Frank Bowels to create the LSAT exam’s test pattern, which was eventually administered in 1948.

The test consists of a multiple-choice component and an aptitude test, both of which are used to evaluate the candidate. The LSAT is right up there with the SAT and GMAT in terms of difficulty.

7. College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT)

College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) or Suneung in South Korea is a name for the CSAT test. In terms of standardized tests, this is one of the more comprehensive ones.

To emphasize the significance of the exam, which is held annually on the second Thursday in November, all South Korean government employees are instructed to arrive late to work on test day in order to avoid traffic bottlenecks that may cause a candidate’s application to be delayed.

As the most suicidal country in the OCED region, South Korea has the greatest suicide rate, and a significant number of these deaths are the consequence of despair and sadness brought on by the country’s dismal performance on the CSAT.

Students begin studying for the test with such fervor in elementary school because of its genuineness. Since the country has the biggest percentage of people with a postsecondary degree, the level of pressure is unmatched.

8.The All Souls Prize Fellowship Application Exam

Few exams in the world can compare to the All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam, which Oxford University administers. Exams like this one have a long history and are considered among the best in the world. 

Only one or two of the eighty people who sign up for this test really end up passing it. A seven-year fellowship at Oxford University is awarded to suitable individuals. All applicants must prepare four essays, two on general issues and two on specific subjects. For the test, there is a three-hour time limit for writing. Humanities disciplines are the primary source of questions.

9. CFA 

CFA stands for Certified Financial Analyst. It’s one of the most difficult tests you’ll ever take. More than 100,000 people from more than a hundred countries apply to take the CFA exam every year.

During the exam, Finance professionals will be tested on their knowledge of the necessary financial equipment and strategies.

For each CFA exam level, 240 questions must be answered in six hours. To be successful, aspirants must pass three levels of the competition. In addition, to earn a CFA charter, prospective applicants must have 48 months of professional experience.

10. Common admission test(CAT)

The Indian Institute of Management, or IIM, is India’s leading business school and one of the world’s toughest tests. The Planning Commission of India founded it. An MBA from this institute is on par with a Ph.D. in the same field of study, and so is a diploma from this institution.

The CAT, or Common Admission Test, is used by 13 colleges and universities to select applicants for their business administration programs. The candidate’s quantitative, data interpretation, verbal ability, and logical thinking skills are assessed in this test.

Section-wise cutoff and negative marking just add to the difficulty! In order to accommodate the increasing number of candidates each year, the exam is currently only administered for a three-week period throughout the months of October and November. Test takers have 150 minutes to complete a computer-based examination.

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