Students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan generally do not sit the ordinary gaokao. Instead, mainland universities admit them through dedicated routes, and the right one depends on where the student studied and which exam results they hold.
The longest-standing route is the joint entrance examination for overseas Chinese and students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (港澳台侨联考). It is held once a year, usually in late spring, at centres in Hong Kong, Macau and elsewhere. Candidates take Chinese, mathematics and English, plus a combined paper in either humanities (history and geography) or sciences (physics and chemistry). Universities then admit on the basis of these results.
Hong Kong students can also apply to many mainland universities using their HKDSE results, without sitting a separate exam. This scheme lets students apply directly to participating universities, which set their own requirements by programme.
Similar arrangements exist elsewhere. Some mainland universities admit Macau students on the basis of Macau's own joint admission examination results, and admit Taiwan students on the basis of Taiwan's General Scholastic Ability Test results. The lists of participating universities and the score requirements change from year to year.
In certain circumstances, children of Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan residents who have studied in mainland schools may be eligible to sit the regular gaokao in the province where they live. The conditions are set locally and should be checked with the provincial examination authority.
Because these routes are separate from the main gaokao, competition and requirements are different too. Applicants should compare routes carefully — some programmes are open only through one route — and rely on official announcements from the Ministry of Education and the universities rather than secondhand summaries.