Top 10 Toughest Exams in the World 2024

Did you know that Gaoko, JEE Advanced, UPSC, Mensa, CFA, All Souls Prize Fellowship, GATE, GRE, and CCIE are some of the toughest exams in the world? Candidates willing to prepare for any of these exams must check the eligibility criteria, education requirements, and other prerequisites.

Notably, not all exams are built with the same wavelength of difficulty; some are more difficult than others. They all cater to different streams and fields of study.

The main purpose of these exams is to test the candidates' in-depth understanding of the stream. Thus, candidates must acquire proper knowledge, skills, and strategies to crack these toughest exams in the world.

Top 10 Toughest Exams in the World 2024

Exams are integral to any education system. Whether entering college life, going for postgraduate courses or even for competition exams for jobs, they can be challenging to crack; particularly if a candidate is going for any of the toughest exams in the world. Here is the list of the 10 toughest exams in the world 2024 based on an overall analysis. Candidates seeking to take any of the following exams must check each detail carefully:

1. Gaokao Exam
2. JEE Advanced
3. UPSC - Union Public Service Commission
4. Mensa
5. GRE (Graduate Record Examinations)
6. CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
7. CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert)
8. GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)
9. All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam
10. Master Sommelier Diploma Exam

1. Gaokao Exam

Gaokao, also known as the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) is China's national entrance test, akin to GATE for India. To attain higher education in China, one must clear the Gaokao exam as it sets the foundation for higher education.

Gaokao is ranked one of the toughest exams in the world. Gaokao has built itself a reputation so infamous that it has documentaries made on it.

Here are three important features that make it the world's toughest exam:

• The exam is conducted for about 9 hours over two days.
• The test includes both Chinese and Mathematics as compulsory subjects along with other elective subjects.
• The overall marks received by the student are usually the average sum of their subject marks. This, in turn, decides whether the candidate has passed or failed their exam.

2. Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced (JEE-Advanced)

JEE Advanced is an engineering entrance examination conducted in India. Candidates wishing to get admission to IITs and some of the NITs to pursue a bachelor's degree, Integrated master's degree, or Bachelor-Master Dual Degree in Engineering, Science, or Architecture. Candidates seeking admission to the best engineering institutes in the country must appear for the JEE exams. 

Here’s why JEE Advanced is among the top 10 toughest exams in the world:

• Students prepare for years, starting from 10th to 12th class to qualify for the cutoff of the exam.
• Out of every 5 lakh students appearing for the exam, only a scaring 10,000 get selected every year.
• The exam is divided into two papers of 3-hour, objective-type papers.
• For every incorrect answer, candidates lose 0.25 marks.
• The JEE Advanced into multiple rounds, increasing the difficulty level for the students to seek admission to India’s best engineering colleges.

Also Read: How Many Attempts for JEE Advanced Are Allowed?

3. UPSC - Union Public Service Commission

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the UPSC or IAS exam to recruit all the top-notch government officials in the country, including IPS, IFS, IAS and more. The UPSC exam is conducted in 3 phases, making it the toughest exam in the world.

Phase 1, also known as the Preliminary Round includes answering objective-type questions. Phase 2 is the Mains Round which includes answering subjective-type questions, and phase 3 is an interview.

The primary motive of the exam is to funnel candidates who can take on responsibilities involved in a government job that serves the nation's benefits. The responsibilities involved are naturally crucial and difficult, including policy-making, managing administrative functions, overseeing development programs, and ensuring public welfare.

The exam process is tricky and difficult to crack. As a result, only 1000 candidates out of approximately 3 lakh candidates are chosen every year.

Also Check: UPSC Jobs List with Salary

4. Mensa

Mensa was founded in 1946 by the Australian Barrister Roland Berrill and the British Scientist and lawyer Dr Lancelot Ware at Lincoln College in Oxford, England. They intended to create a non-profit society for anyone who scored above the 98th percentile on regulated and supervised IQ tests.

Gaining a Mensa membership requires one to achieve more than the percentile stated. Thus, making Mensa one of the world's toughest exams, testing the IQ of the candidates. 

Mensa is a multinational NPO; so some aspects may differ. Their evaluation system considers the quality of one's talents. Additionally, there is no age restriction to join it.

5. GRE (Graduate Record Examinations)

The GRE is one of the most widely taken tests globally; it's also rather difficult to crack. It is used as an entrance exam for most universities in the United States. Due to its complicated nature, the GRE is coined as the toughest exam in the world.

The GRE test is divided into several sections, including Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Issues and Arguments, and Research.  These sections may or may not include lower-level mathematics, which is difficult for many.

In addition, most of the questions are phrased to confuse and trick the candidate. Other questions involving English include challenging vocabulary and complex passages of text that require elaboration. 

The test can be taken online and offline; Paper-Based tests are made available only in areas where conducting the online test is impossible. Usually, students seeking to pursue Business and Management, Engineering, Natural Sciences and Education courses abroad appear for this exam.

Also Check: How to Crack GRE?

6. CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)

The Chartered Financial Analyst or CFA is not precisely an examination, it is more professional for finance and investment professionals. The Wall Street Journal has recognized CFA as the world's toughest exam. Here’s why CFA is among the top 10 toughest exams in the world:

• After many repeated attempts, only 1/5th of the applicants clear the test each year.
• The test includes 3 papers, covering 2 objective types and 1 essay type.
• Only 9% of the applicants have passed all 3 levels in the past decade.
• The CFA Institute imposes one of the two criteria on test-takers: They must either have 4 years of relevant work experience or an appropriate combination of work experience and education.

Also Read: How Hard Is the CFA Exam?

7. CCIE

The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Certification was introduced by Cisco Systems to support the IT industry in identifying the top-ranking internetwork experts globally and evaluating them on infrastructure and network design.

Given CCIE's reputation among networking certificates, the certification is accepted globally. Their authorities also update their testing tools and methodologies regularly.

Here are a few reasons why it is categorised as the world's toughest exam:

• CCIE exam is divided into 2 phases. In particular, the second phase consists of an 8-hour practical exam.
• Unfortunately, according to some of the findings by Cisco, only 3% of the candidates are selected and certified in CCIE.
• Further, due to the tediousness and difficulty involved in the second phase, only a 1% success rate is reflected.

8. GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)

GATE is a national entrance test in India for students willing to pursue a postgraduate degree in Engineering and a PhD. Achieving high scores in this exam allows students to take postgraduate and PhD courses in some prestigious universities in India.

What makes GATE so difficult and places it among the top 10 toughest exams in the world are as follows:

• IITs conduct the GATE exam.
• Around 10 lakh students appear yearly for GATE, and approximately 15% make it through.
• It is more challenging because IITs only accept candidates with higher than the 98th percentile, which means more candidates from that 15% are eliminated.
• The selection process includes an entrance test and Group Discussion (GDs) or a Personal Interview (PI) round to get into PSUs.

Also Read: What Does it Take to Become a GATE Topper? Tips, Strategies

9. All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam

The All Souls Prize fellowship exam conducted by Oxford University's All Souls College is one of the toughest exams in the world. Analyzing the fellowship's selection process is another good indication of how difficult the exam is; an average of 2 out of 80 candidates are selected to become members annually.

The Fellowships last seven years and cannot be renewed. Here are some of the added features that make this exam challenging:

• The exam includes four papers, each of which lasts for a total of 3 hours.
• Candidates must write an extended essay based on a single word they received.
• One needs to have a comprehensive knowledge of the subjects they are writing and adaptive brainstorming skills to answer the questions.

10. Master Sommelier Diploma Exam

Master Sommelier Diploma Exam has a four-level education and examination program, beginning with the Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination. The Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination offered in-person and online, introduces students to the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Court of Master Sommeliers Tasting Method, the Court of Master Sommeliers Service Standards, and is taught exclusively by Master Sommeliers.

The reasons why the Master Sommelier Diploma Exam is considered among the toughest exams in the world are discussed below:

• Success in the in-person Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination depends on a student's degree of training and job experience.
• The students should have examined and studied the introductory workbook's topics before class, as this is expected of them.
• The Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination take place from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM over two days. The exam takes place at approx 4:00 PM on day two, followed by results and sparkling wine reception.
• The course is intense and fast-paced - covering a lot of information.
• The examination consists of 70 multiple-choice questions reflecting the course content and workbook and must be completed within 45 minutes.
• A minimum score of 60% is required to earn the Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination certificate and lapel pin.
• After passing the Introductory Sommelier Course Examination, students can sit the Certified Sommelier Examination (Theory, Tasting, and Service).

Also Read: Toughest Exams in India