The College Entrance Examination: A Three-Day Test That Condenses Three Years of High School into a Single Score Sheet

In 1994, the College Entrance Examination (CET) was held for the first time. By the 2026–2027 academic year, the number of applicants was 121,535, distributed across 35 testing centers, 93 sub-centers, and 3,536 examination rooms. ¹ This three-day exam simultaneously influences the Star Program Recommendation, application-based admissions, and distribution-based admissions. ²

Extended viewing: CET mobilization event, students watching a campus gathering from the stands (Kureyuko / Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Figure: CET mobilization event. Photo taken on August 25, 2014, by Kureyuko; original image from Flickr, under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. ³

Its most counterintuitive aspect lies here: The CET appears to be an exam designed to rank students, but institutionally, it does not aim to test all high school knowledge. Instead, it first asks a narrower, more critical question—do you possess the basic subject competence required for university education? ¹⁴

✦ "The CET is not the end point; it is more like a door: outside are high school courses, inside are the various university departments getting to know you in different ways."

Three Days in January, Starting with an Admission Ticket

The 2026–2027 academic year CET was held from January 17 to 19, 2026. Candidates could freely choose from six subjects: Chinese Language, English, Mathematics A, Mathematics B, Social Studies, and Natural Sciences. Chinese Language is divided into two sections: Comprehensive Chinese Language Proficiency and Written Chinese Language Proficiency, making the total examination consist of six subjects and seven sessions. ¹

The schedule divides this exam into distinct time blocks: Mathematics A and Natural Sciences on the first day; English and Chinese Comprehensive/Written on the second day; Mathematics B and Social Studies on the third day. The Comprehensive and Written Chinese sections are each 90 minutes long; English and the two Mathematics subjects are each 100 minutes; Social Studies and Natural Sciences are each 110 minutes. ¹

These numbers may seem like mere logistical statistics, but they also illustrate the public nature of the CET. It is not a test of students by a teacher in a single classroom, but a social facility that must simultaneously handle hundreds of thousands of answer sheets, different physical conditions, different geographical locations, and a single set of fair rules. The 2026–2027 Academic Year Work Report also records that the National Center for Assessment in Higher Education (NCAHE) compiles logistical data, verification, statistical charts, and subject-specific questions into a work report for universities, high schools, educational researchers, and the general public to review. ¹

📝 Curator's Note

What is most worth observing about the CET is not just who gets which level score, but how Taiwan turns a winter exam into a fair procedure that the entire society must trust.

It Has Never Been a Static Exam

The CET was introduced in the 1994–1995 academic year. According to NCAHE, test content adjusts as high school curricula change. Starting in 2018, the Written Chinese Language Proficiency Test was administered as an independent session, and the scope of the Chinese Language and English tests was adjusted to the fifth semester of high school. ²

This history means that "what the CET actually tests" cannot be answered solely by subject names. As curricula change, the abilities the exam seeks to capture also shift: from how much content one can memorize to whether one can understand contexts provided in questions, integrate data, and apply learned concepts to unfamiliar problems. In the exam guidelines applicable from the 2022–2023 academic year, NCAHE explicitly places the CET subjects, competency-oriented questions, and changes from the 108 Curriculum Framework within the same explanatory framework. ⁴

Therefore, the "everyday" nature of CET questions does not mean turning questions into common sense, nor does it imply that textbook knowledge is unimportant. It is more about extracting knowledge from familiar chapter titles and placing it within a text, a chart, a social event, or a reasoning context, then seeing if the candidate can recognize the concept still exists within it. This is a change in question-setting direction, and the reason why students' preparation methods must also change. ⁴⁵

Before the CET, the Joint Exam Was a Narrow Path

If we place the CET within Taiwan's educational history, it is not the first system attempting to answer "who gets into university." The University Joint Admission System began implementation in the 43rd year of the Republic of China (1954) and lasted for nearly half a century. It provided a national comparative standard through a set of joint exams and distribution mechanisms. ⁶⁷

The fairness of the Joint Exam was first technical: everyone took similar subjects at the same time and was distributed according to public rules. This system reduced the need for candidates to travel to various universities and reduced the burden on universities to conduct their own admissions. However, it also concentrated college entrance competition highly into a single exam, easily forming "exam-led teaching" and a culture of exam-oriented advancement. ⁷⁸

📝 Curator's Note

The Joint Exam was not a system that could be概括ed simply as "good" or "bad." It once provided predictable fairness through a single standard, but also caused school teaching to revolve around the exam due to its excessive concentration. Understanding this contradiction is key to understanding why the CET, application-based admissions, and the Subject-Based Test emerged later.

In 2002 (the 91st academic year), the University Diversified Admission Plan began to replace the overall structure of the traditional University Joint Exam. The direction of institutional reform shifted from "one exam, unified distribution" to "separation of testing and admissions" and diversified channels. The CET handles the assessment of more basic subject competencies, while other exams and departmental procedures take on分流 (streaming) and talent selection functions at different stages. ⁷⁸

Beyond the Six Subjects, There Is the Pressure of Choice

Starting from the 2026–2027 academic year, candidates can freely choose from the six subjects. This "freedom" allows students with different aspirations to not prepare every subject to the same depth, but it also returns the responsibility of choice to the candidates: Which subjects do the departments you apply to accept? Does the difference between Mathematics A and Mathematics B affect your志愿 (preferences)? Should you take the Natural Sciences test? The answers lie not within the CET itself, but in the admission channels and departmental brochures. ¹⁹

The Joint Association of University Admissions divides university admissions into channels such as the Star Program Recommendation, Application-Based Admissions, and Distribution-Based Admissions, providing queries for departmental subject requirements and various admission information. In other words, the same CET score will not automatically produce the same admission result. It must be placed into a specific department's verification, screening, credit, or ranking rules before it begins to function. ⁹

This is where many candidates first feel confused: scores are not a ruler that is the same for everyone. NCAHE stipulates that CET subject scores are expressed in levels. When used for Star Program Recommendations, Application-Based Admissions, and some Distribution purposes, the highest level for each subject is Level 15. If the CET is used for Distribution-Based Admissions credit, there is another expression method with a maximum of 60 levels. ¹¹⁰

Choosing More Subjects Is Not Necessarily Advantageous

"Free choice of subjects" is easily misunderstood as "take everything if you can," but the system actually leaves strategic space, not necessarily more paths for taking more exams. Departments can choose which subjects to credit from the CET and the Subject-Based Test; candidates need to compare their target departments, preparation time, and subject requirements on the same table. ⁹¹¹

If a department only lists certain subjects as verification or credit items, additional effort in other subjects may not change the application result. Conversely, if a department requires a subject that the candidate did not choose, higher scores in other subjects cannot directly fill that gap. This is not a conclusion about the individual, but a reminder that subject choice must start from departmental rules, not from exam anxiety. ⁹

Level 1 Is Not a Meter, But a Relative Position

"Levels" are easily misunderstood as fixed scores. In reality, CET levels are converted from raw scores through the statistical distribution of candidates who took the exam in that year. The five performance standards published by NCAHE describe the top standard, upper standard, average standard, lower standard, and bottom standard in terms of percentile positions. ¹⁰

This means that what candidates care about is not just how many questions they answered correctly themselves, but also the overall score distribution of that subject. The same raw score, placed in different years or among different subject candidate groups, may not correspond to the same level. This does not make scores opaque; rather, it uses relative positions to handle differences in subject difficulty and candidate performance distribution. ¹⁰

📝 Curator's Note

What levels truly measure is not "how far am I from the full score," but "where do I stand among this group of people who walked into the exam hall together."

In the Exam Room, Fairness Is Not an Abstract Noun

Exam fairness is often thought of as everyone receiving the same paper, but on-site there are smaller, more practical issues: admission tickets, entry times, whether mobile phones are completely turned off, room temperature, and whether sudden noises might interrupt a person's thoughts.

On the first day of the 2026–2027 CET, Central News Agency reported that parents of southern candidates complained about the heat in the exam rooms. NCAHE stated that if candidates believe temperature affects their performance, they can report it to the invigilators; after seeking consent from all candidates in that exam room, windows or doors can be opened. ¹² This handling method is meticulous because it must simultaneously consider the physical feelings of individual candidates and the common conditions of the same exam room.

NCAHE Director General Chang Hsin-jen stated during the briefing: "To maintain exam fairness, the exam room environment is set to consistency." ¹² This sentence reveals another side of fairness: fairness is not just about everyone accepting the same calculation method when scores are released, but also about minimizing, during the exam, letting one person's convenience become another person's disturbance.

Disturbance does not necessarily come from the system. Once, a neighborhood office broadcast near a CET exam room lasted about 5 minutes; candidates reported that the sound disrupted their answering thoughts. The neighborhood head later stated: "I had no idea there was an exam nearby; I apologize for affecting the candidates." ¹³ The boundary of a large-scale exam thus extends from the exam room door to nearby streets: garbage collection broadcasts, windows, air conditioning, and traffic can all become part of the exam.

Written Chinese Tests Life, But Not Just Any Life

After the 2026 Written Chinese section, Central News Agency reported that candidates felt the questions referenced Jimmy Liao's illustrations, requiring a shift in perspective, and could be approached from experiences of family communication and teacher-student interaction. A surnamed Yang student mentioned that she could approach the topic from experiences interacting with her mother and teachers, and through answering, sort out emotions with her family. This is a paraphrase from the report, not her verbatim quote. ¹⁴

There is an easily overlooked action in this sentence: it is not "having life experience allows you to write," but reorganizing life experience into a response to the question. Written Chinese is therefore neither simply memorizing model essays nor pouring private stories directly onto the answer sheet. It requires candidates to read the question, grasp the constraints, and then organize their observations into text. ¹⁴

This also explains why the competency-oriented nature of the CET often feels unfamiliar. The unfamiliarity is not with all knowledge, but that the question does not necessarily tell you first "which chapter to use now." You must first identify the problem, then decide which knowledge is worth bringing in. ⁴⁵

After the CET, Scores Begin to Be Interpreted

The release of scores does not mean the completion of admissions. The 2026–2027 academic year CET scores were released on February 25; score notification forms were mailed the next day; candidates could also apply for score rechecking from February 26 to March 4. ¹

The path forward depends on departments and admission channels: some take CET scores to participate in the Star Program Recommendation, some enter the first-stage screening of Application-Based Admissions, some prepare for the Subject-Based Test, or choose other channels based on their qualifications and preferences. The Joint Association of University Admissions website continuously publishes admission announcements, screening results, review materials, and distribution information for each academic year; these are the next layer of institutions that translate "a score notification form" into "where one can go." ⁹

The Subject-Based Test: Leaving Finer Subject Competence for Later

The Subject-Based Test (SBAT) is primarily used for Distribution-Based Admissions, assessing candidates' abilities in key subjects. Departments using Distribution-Based Admissions can choose credit subjects from the six CET subjects and various SBAT subjects according to their characteristics and needs. In the 2026–2027 academic year, the SBAT actually lists eight subjects: Mathematics A, Mathematics B, History, Geography, Civics and Society, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. ¹¹¹⁵

This makes the SBAT and the CET form a division of labor, rather than a simple "second CET." The CET occurs earlier and is commonly used for verification and screening in Star Program Recommendations and Application-Based Admissions. The SBAT, in the subsequent distribution stage, allows some departments to conduct more in-depth talent selection for specific subjects. Which subjects are actually credited, and how CET and SBAT scores are weighted, must still be confirmed by returning to the current year's Distribution-Based Admissions and departmental bylaws. ⁹¹¹

Taking the 2026–2027 academic year as an example, the SBAT is scheduled for July 11–12, 2026, with subjects including Mathematics A, Mathematics B, History, Geography, Civics and Society, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology; candidates can freely choose. These are the specific arrangements for that academic year and do not imply that every year will remain unchanged. ¹¹⁶

Retaking Is Not a Button, But a Period of Re-planning

In everyday language, "retaking" often conflates many situations. After the CET, candidates can register for the SBAT in the same year. Some re-register for the CET or SBAT in the following year. These two situations are both exam registration issues, distinct from the personal decision to give up admission after being accepted, take a leave of absence, or prepare again. ¹¹¹

More importantly, retaking does not mean new scores can necessarily replace old ones, nor does it mean one can necessarily retain original preference choices. Candidates must confirm three things separately: whether registration is open in the current year, which year or type of score the target department uses, and the registration and distribution deadlines for that admission channel. NCAHE is responsible for the exam; the Joint Association of University Admissions and various admission units publish admission rules. The two cannot be confused into the same rule sheet. ⁹¹¹

Therefore, the core of retaking is not "taking the exam again will make it better," but recalculating the relationship between time, subjects, and target departments. Some need the SBAT to strengthen specific subjects; some need to wait for the next year to prepare for the CET again; some, after seeing how departments credit subjects, find that the subject they most wanted to rush for is not the most effective path. These are strategic judgments and should not be written as guaranteed results. ⁹¹¹

Retaking should also not be written as a simple "restart after failure." In the Joint Exam era, comparison was mainly concentrated in one set of exam and distribution rules. After diversified admissions, retaking also involves whether departments credit the score, how scores are used, how registration schedules connect, and whether candidates must bear the time cost of an additional year. As institutional options increase, the responsibility for decision-making becomes more obvious. ⁹⁷⁸

✦ "After finishing the CET, the most important question is no longer 'what score did I get,' but 'what does this score represent within the rules of the departments I want to enter.'"

The pressure of the CET comes from it being both a test and a streaming tool. It measures basic competence but is used by different departments for different purposes. This difference cannot be summarized by a single sentence like "just get a high score"; students need to understand how subject choice, the level system, departmental credit, and subsequent material preparation connect with each other. ¹⁹¹⁰

People Beyond the Table

Looking back at the 121,535 candidates, the statistical table only shows numbers, subjects, absences, and level distributions. But behind every number, someone is confirming their ID before the exam, someone is waiting for their child outside the exam room, someone is discovering for the first time that questions can connect to their family experiences, and someone is pulled back to reality by a sudden broadcast in the neighborhood. ^1121314

The CET will not decide the future for everyone, nor can it condense three years of learning into a single fair and perfect number. What it can do is provide a common starting point for universities to begin getting to know candidates under the same time and rules. What truly needs to be answered afterward is never just "what levels did you get," but also where you want to take these abilities and how you are willing to continue using them.