10 most difficult exams in the world

april 29, 2025

Image: Shutterstock

Every year, millions of people take exams globally. Here are the ten most difficult exams in the world!

Conducted by: State Bar of California, USA
It's a two-day-long exam that assesses a candidate's competence to practice law in the state of California, with a pass rate of about 54%.

Image: wikipedia.org/ State Bar of California

10. California Bar Exam

Conducted by: Oxford University, UK
It offers a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College at Oxford University, with one or two out of 80 candidates passing the exam.

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9. All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam

Conducted body: IISC and IITs, India
It's a national-level exam for postgraduate admissions in colleges in the country for engineering, architecture, humanities, etc. It has a pass rate of 15-18%.

Image: wikipedia.org/GATE

8. GATE Exam

Conducting by: Cisco Systems, USA
The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert exam is an expert-level certification for senior-level IT professionals, with a pass rate of 26-30%.

Image: wikipedia.org/Goodtiming8871 

7. CCIE

Conducted by: CFA Institute, USA
The Chartered Financial Analyst exam is a three-level post-graduate certification program for investment and finance professionals. It has a level I pass rate of 40-45%.

Image: Shutterstock

6. CFA

Conducted by: The Educational Testing Service, USA
The Graduate Record Examinations is a standardised test for admissions in thousands of graduate, business and law programs worldwide.

Image: wikipedia.org/Educational Testing Service 

5. GRE

Conducted by: International Board of Directors, UK
Mensa is not an exam, rather, it's the largest and oldest high-IQ society that accepts people who score at the 98th percentile or higher of a standardised IQ test.

Image: wikipedia.org/Mensa

4. Mensa International

Conducted by: UPSC, India
The Union Public Service Commission is a national-level recruitment exam for various civil services, including IAS, IPS and IFS. It has a pass rate of 0.2%

Source: nytimes.com

3. UPSC Civil Services Examination

Conducted by: IIT, India
It is a national-level engineering exam for admission to B.Tech programs in IITs and other top engineering colleges in India, with a pass rate of 25-30%.

Image: Shutterstock

2. IIT-JEE Advanced

Conducted by: Ministry of Education, China
It's a national-level undergraduate admission exam to universities and colleges in China. While 85% of students get admission, acceptance for elite universities is 0.1%.

Image: Shutterstock

1. Gaokao 

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