The gaokao was suspended during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), when university places were handed out largely by political recommendation rather than examination. Its restoration in December 1977 is seen as one of the defining moments of the reform era.
5.7 million people sat that first restored exam in the winter of 1977, and fewer than 5% were admitted to university. The candidates included people in their thirties who had waited a decade for another chance.
Through the 1980s and 1990s the exam gradually standardised: national paper sets with provincial adaptations, English as a core subject, and the 3+X reform of 1999, which added a chosen subject to the three core ones.
In 1999 the state also began a massive expansion of higher education. University enrolment grew several-fold within a decade, and the gaokao shifted from a filter for a tiny elite to a sorting mechanism for most school leavers.
The most recent major change is the new gaokao reform from 2014 onward: elective subjects, percentile-based scoring and the gradual merging of the tier system. As of 2026, most provinces use some form of the new system.