Overview
The Senior Examination (third grade, usually called gaokao) and the Junior Examination (pukao) are Taiwan's general entry exams for national civil service posts. They are held under rules issued by the Examination Yuan. This page summarises those rules as published in the national laws and regulations database. Dates, fees and each year's category list come from the Ministry of Examination and are not covered here.
Who can apply
You must be a citizen of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and at least 18 years old.
You must hold at least one qualification from the eligibility table for your exam: one table for the third-grade senior exam, another for the junior exam.
You must not be barred from national examinations by law.
Exam pattern
The exam is written, with extra stages for some categories. Subjects are set in schedules attached to the rules, one for each exam.
Written plus practical test: third-grade crude drug identification and craftsmanship, and junior broadcast journalism.
Written plus oral: 18 third-grade categories, including Hakka affairs administration, overseas Chinese affairs, international cultural and educational administration, and several public-service professional roles (for example social worker, veterinarian, nurse, pharmacist and architect), plus aviation pilot. At junior level, Hakka affairs administration and aviation pilot.
In two-stage categories the first stage is written (the practical test is held alongside it) and the second is an individual oral exam. Those not admitted at the first stage cannot sit the second, and the first-stage pass is not carried over to a later year.
Aviation pilot and aircraft maintenance candidates must complete a medical check at a designated hospital within 14 days of their notice, using the aviation medical standards.
Marking and results
Third-grade written-only categories: general subjects plus the professional subject average. Legal knowledge and English together make up 14 percent, Chinese 8 percent, and the professional average 78 percent.
Junior exam: the average of all subject scores.
With a practical test: written to practical is 80:20 for third-grade crude drug identification and for junior broadcast journalism, and 60:40 for third-grade craftsmanship.
With an oral exam: 80:20 for Hakka affairs, overseas Chinese affairs and international cultural and educational administration (third grade); 90:10 for junior Hakka affairs; 70:30 for aviation pilot at both levels and for the 14 public-service professional categories.
You are not admitted if any written subject is zero, the total is below 50, or the oral or practical score is below 60. Architectural design, pharmacy administration and regulations, and landscape and urban design subjects must also reach 50 where they apply. A missed subject scores zero.
Scores are calculated to four decimal places, and the total is rounded to two.
After the exam
Places depend on each category's vacancies, with extra candidates possible. The selection committee decides the cut-off.
Admitted candidates complete training. Once they pass it and the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission approves, the Examination Yuan issues the pass certificate, and they are placed in posts through the Ministry of Civil Service and the Executive Yuan's personnel administration agency.
Admitted candidates cannot apply to return to their previous employer for practical training.
After qualifying, you may not move for three years to an authority outside the one that placed you, and its subordinate offices and schools. This is noted on the pass certificate.
Note
Exam dates, fees, vacancies and the application process are not in these rules. The Ministry of Examination publishes them in each year's exam notice.