How to Check Subject Selection Requirements for the Gaokao from 2027: A Must-Read Before Choosing Subjects in 10th Grade

2026-10-04 · Guides

Students entering 10th grade in Fall 2024 will take the Gaokao in 2027 and are subject to the new subject selection requirements for majors announced by various provinces in early 2025. Based on official announcements from Xinjiang, Guangdong, Hubei, and Hunan, this article explains how to choose subjects under the '3+1+2' model, the four ways subject requirements are written, and how 10th-grade students can step-by-step find the subject requirements for their target majors.

Here is the bottom line: Students entering their first year of high school in 2024 or later will take the Gaokao from 2027 onwards. They need to refer to the subject requirements for majors "from 2027 onwards" published by each province in early 2025, rather than the older versions used by previous students. Before choosing subjects, check the requirements for your target majors on the official website of your provincial Education Examinations Authority (or Department of Education), and then make your decision.

These requirements were released in 2025 but will only take effect for the 2027 Gaokao, with a two-year gap in between. This is because the Ministry of Education mandates that subject requirements must be announced in advance. Any changes apply to students taking the Gaokao two years later and cannot be altered at the last minute during the admission year.

What Does "3+1+2" Mean?

Take Xinjiang as an example. An announcement by the Xinjiang Education Examinations Authority on March 13, 2025, states that the 2027 Xinjiang Gaokao will implement the "3+1+2" model, applicable to students entering their first year of high school in the fall of 2024:

3: Chinese, Mathematics, and Foreign Language. These are national standardized exams and mandatory for all candidates.
1: Preferred subject. Choose 1 subject from Physics and History.
2: Re-selected subjects. Choose 2 subjects from Chemistry, Biology, Ideological and Politics, and Geography.

The policy interpretation for Xinjiang also notes that from 2027 onwards, universities in Xinjiang will separate admission plans, set distinct cutoff scores, and admit students separately for the Physics and History tracks. Admissions will follow the parallel preference model of "University + Major Group". Majors within the same major group share the same subject requirements.

Other provinces implementing the "3+1+2" model follow the same subject structure. Please refer to your province's official documents for specific details.

What Are the Four Types of Subject Requirements?

When universities set subject requirements for each major, they choose from the six subjects: Physics, History, Chemistry, Biology, Ideological and Politics, and Geography. According to official guidelines from regions like Xinjiang and Fujian, these can be divided into four categories:

Type	Example	Meaning
No requirements	No restrictions	Eligible for any subject combination
Preferred subject only	Physics	Physics must be the preferred subject; no restrictions on re-selected subjects
Re-selected subjects only	Ideological and Politics, Geography	Either Physics or History as the preferred subject, but both re-selected subjects must be included
Both preferred and re-selected subjects	Physics + Chemistry	Physics must be the preferred subject, and Chemistry must be one of the re-selected subjects

Keep two points in mind when reading the requirements:

If a certain number of subjects are listed, you must select all of them. Hubei's guidelines state: requiring 1, 2, or 3 subjects means all these subjects must be taken.
"Physics + Chemistry" means Physics is the preferred subject and Chemistry is one of the re-selected subjects. This is how the Xinjiang announcement explains it.

How Many Requirements Have Been Published Across Regions?

This new version of requirements was uniformly compiled by universities and applies to all provinces participating in the comprehensive Gaokao reform. The Department of Education of Guangdong Province explicitly stated this in its notice. Each province then compiles and publishes the requirements of universities planning to recruit in their respective provinces:

Region	Release Date	Scale
Hunan	January 9, 2025 (Xiang Jiao Tong [2025] No. 9)	2,279 universities, 85,164 admission majors (categories)
Fujian	February 14, 2025	Undergraduate majors of regular universities planning to recruit in Fujian
Guangdong	February 26, 2025 (Yue Jiao Kao Han [2025] No. 3)	Majors of regular universities planning to recruit in Guangdong from 2027 onwards
Hubei	February 28, 2025	2,186 universities, 81,804 majors (categories)
Xinjiang	March 13, 2025	72,176 entries, including 44,721 for undergraduate and 27,455 for higher vocational (junior college)

The numbers differ because each province only counts universities and majors "planning to recruit in the province," and the statistical criteria are not entirely identical. Xinjiang issued a supplementary announcement on January 26, 2026, adding 955 entries involving 27 universities, which holds the same validity as the original announcement. Therefore, keep an eye out for subsequent supplements when checking.

What's Different from the Previous Versions?

Students taking the Gaokao in 2025 and 2026 will still use the old requirements. Hubei's guidelines mention that the old version was compiled based on the Ministry of Education's 2021 "Guidelines for Subject Requirements for Undergraduate Admissions in Regular Universities (General Version)." Guangdong also clarified that candidates in 2025 and 2026 should still refer to the requirements published in 2024.

Between the new and old versions, requirements for some majors have changed. For example, in the new requirements published by the Zhejiang Education Examinations Authority, several universities changed their Traditional Chinese Medicine majors to "No restrictions." Some universities changed Architecture from requiring Physics or Physics and Chemistry to "No restrictions," while others changed Law from "No restrictions" to requiring History and Ideological and Politics. These are adjustments by specific universities and do not mean all similar majors have the same requirements.

Therefore, do not directly apply the subject selection experiences from previous years. You must check the requirements for each major individually according to the new version.

How Can First-Year High School Students Check Subject Requirements for Target Majors?

List your goals first. Write down a few major fields of interest and some target universities. You don't need to finalize them right away.
Find the official provincial query portal. Go to the official website of your provincial Education Examinations Authority or Department of Education to find the subject requirements "from 2027 onwards" or the "General Version (2027)." For example, Guangdong's query system is on the Guangdong Provincial Education Examinations Authority website. In Xinjiang, you can check under "Notices and Announcements" or the "Subject Query Assistance System" on the Xinjiang Education Examinations Authority website. The Sunshine Gaokao Platform also compiles the "Subject Requirements for Undergraduate Majors of Regular Universities in All Provinces from 2027," which can serve as an entry point, but the final authority lies with your province's official publication.
Check university by university and major by major. Requirements for the same major may vary across different universities. For instance, one university might require "Physics + Chemistry," while another might only require "Physics."
Organize them into a table. List the requirements for each target major at each target university to see which subject combination covers the most of your goals.
Combine with your strengths. Subject requirements are just the "threshold"; whether you can score well is another matter. Consider the requirements alongside your actual proficiency in each subject.
Double-check before applying. Majors listed in the announcement may not recruit in your province every year. The actual majors recruiting and their requirements are subject to the admission plans published by the universities for that specific year.

Common Misconceptions

Only looking at the major name, not the university. Subject requirements are set individually by each university, so requirements for majors with the same name may differ.
Using the old requirements. Students entering in 2024 and later should refer to the new version for 2027 onwards.
Assuming "No restrictions" means no threshold. "No restrictions" only means there are no limits on subject selection. Admission still depends on your scores and the admission plan.
Forgetting about supplements. Some provinces issue supplementary announcements. Pay attention to the latest information when checking.

This article only summarizes policy information. For specific requirements, please refer to the official publications of your provincial Education Examinations Authority and the universities.

Need Help?

If your child is currently choosing subjects in their first year of high school and is also considering applying for undergraduate programs overseas in the future, check out our University Application Planning Service, or Book a one-on-one consultation. We will help you sort out both the domestic Gaokao subject selection and the course requirements for overseas applications.