National Civil Service Examination (China)国考

Overview

国家公务员考试 (guokao), formally the Central Organs and Their Directly-Affiliated Institutions Examination for the Recruitment of Civil Servants, is China's annual recruitment exam for staff positions in central government ministries, commissions and their subordinate agencies. It is organised by the National Civil Service Administration together with the hiring agencies. Each cycle is named for the year new recruits start work, but registration and the written exam actually run in the preceding autumn and winter — the "2026" cycle, for example, registered and tested candidates in October–November 2025. The exam is open only to people holding People's Republic of China nationality.

Who can apply

• Hold PRC nationality, support the Constitution, and have no disqualifying criminal or disciplinary record.

• Be at least 18. For the 2026 cycle the general upper age limit was raised to 38 (previously 35); fresh master's or doctoral graduates in that cycle could apply up to age 43.

• Hold at least an associate (junior-college) degree; most central-agency posts require a bachelor's degree or higher, and some specify a particular major.

• Meet the physical and psychological fitness standard needed to perform the post's duties, confirmed later at the medical-examination stage.

• Meet any post-specific condition set in that position's own entry in the vacancy list (work experience, grassroots-service years, professional licence, political-outlook requirements for some systems, etc.) — these vary post by post and are published with each year's vacancy table, not in the general announcement.

Exam pattern

Xingce and Shenlun are sat on the same day, in the morning and afternoon respectively, at test centres in every provincial capital and several other major cities. Only candidates who clear the written stage and are shortlisted by score are invited to interview; a further medical examination and background/political review follow for those who pass the interview.

Syllabus

Xingce (行测) has five modules:

• 常识判断 (common-sense judgement) — general knowledge of law, politics, history, science and current affairs.

• 言语理解与表达 (verbal comprehension and expression) — reading comprehension and sentence/logic-fill questions.

• 数量关系 (quantitative relations) — arithmetic and basic maths word problems.

• 判断推理 (logical reasoning) — figural reasoning, definition judgement, analogical reasoning and logical judgement.

• 资料分析 (data analysis) — reading tables/charts and calculating growth rates, proportions and totals.

Shenlun (申论) is based on a set of case-study material (policy documents, reports, excerpts) provided in the paper itself. Questions typically require summarising the material, analysing a problem it raises, proposing measures, and writing a longer structured essay or official-style document — all drawing only on the given material rather than outside knowledge.

Positions that require a professional-subject paper (e.g. police, customs, banking/insurance regulation, foreign affairs) publish that subject's own outline separately from the general Xingce/Shenlun syllabus; candidates for those posts should check their hiring agency's own notice.

Marking and results

• Xingce and Shenlun are each scored out of 100. For posts without a professional-subject requirement, the written score is usually Xingce and Shenlun weighted equally (50/50) into a single written score out of 100.

• Candidates are shortlisted for interview by written-score ranking against each post's planned headcount, commonly at roughly a 1:3 ratio (three candidates considered per vacancy, scaled up for multi-vacancy posts) — the exact ratio and any minimum qualifying score are set by the hiring agency and published with that post.

• The final ranking combines written and interview scores — a common formula is final score = (written score ÷ 2) × 50% + interview score × 50%, i.e. written and interview each contribute half, though the exact weighting can vary by hiring system and is stated in that system's own notice.

• After interview ranking, shortlisted candidates go through a medical examination against the national civil-service medical standard and a background/political review (政审); either can disqualify a candidate regardless of exam score.

• Final hiring lists are usually posted for public comment (公示) for a short period before appointment is confirmed; new recruits normally serve a probationary period before formal appointment is finalised.

Important dates

The exam runs on a fixed annual cycle, with each year's own notice confirming exact dates:

• Online registration: typically mid-to-late October.

• Written exam (行测 and 申论, same day): typically the last Sunday of November.

• Written-score release: typically early-to-mid January of the following year.

• Interviews: typically February–March of the following year (some systems, such as foreign affairs or aviation-safety posts, may interview earlier).

• Medical exam and background review: typically within one to two months after the interview.

• Public notice of the hiring list and appointment: typically around April–May, with recruits reporting for duty from around mid-year.

For the 2026 cycle specifically: online registration ran from 15 to 24 October 2025, and the written exam (Xingce in the morning, Shenlun in the afternoon) was held on 30 November 2025, with roughly 38,100 posts advertised.

Fees

The exam itself is free to register for, but each province's human-resources department sets and collects a written-exam fee for candidates sitting at its test centres, so the amount varies by province rather than being fixed nationally. For the 2026 cycle, published provincial fee schedules were generally in the range of about CNY 10–50 per subject (two subjects for most candidates), with a handful of provinces — including Fujian, Hainan and Tibet — charging no fee at all. Candidates from households certified as receiving the minimum-living-standard allowance, or from registered-poor rural households, are exempted from the fee nationwide on producing the relevant certificate. Candidates should check their own test-centre province's published fee notice rather than assume a single national figure.

How to apply

1. Read the current year's recruitment announcement and vacancy table on the official registration site to confirm which posts match your qualifications.

2. Register online within the registration window, selecting one post only; submit your personal and education details and a photo for review.

3. Wait for the hiring agency's qualification review (资格审查) of your application; if rejected, you may usually switch to another eligible post while registration is still open.

4. Pay the applicable provincial exam fee online once your application is accepted (or submit a fee-waiver certificate if eligible).

5. Print the admission ticket once released, shortly before the written exam.

6. Sit the written exam (Xingce and Shenlun, plus any professional-subject paper your post requires) at your assigned centre.

7. If shortlisted on written score, attend the interview, then the medical examination and background review if you advance further.

Preparation tips

• Practise Xingce's five modules separately, since each rewards different skills — timed accuracy on verbal and data-analysis sections tends to matter as much as raw knowledge for common-sense questions.

• For Shenlun, practise working only from the given case material rather than general essay-writing habits — most marks are lost by introducing outside knowledge or missing a required format.

• Check your target post's own entry in the vacancy table for any professional-subject, work-experience or major requirement before registering, since these sit outside the general public-subject syllabus.

• Track the interview ratio and any minimum qualifying score for your specific post rather than a general national figure, since hiring agencies set these individually.