Top 10 Toughest Exams in World To Crack in 2023: Be it any exam, it is tough. But there are so many exams that are extremely tough because of various reasons like the competition, syllabus etc. Ever heard of an exam where you have to do nothing but taste wine? Sounds interesting and easy but the reality is that this exam, known as Master Sommelier Diploma exam, is the toughest in the world. Here, in this article, we will be talking about 10 exams that are hardest to clear.
The exams that top our list in the top 10 toughest exams in the world are as follows:-
- Master Sommelier Diploma Exam
- All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam
- UPSC – Union Public Service Commission
- CFA (Chief Financial Analyst)
- Mensa
- JEE-Advanced
- GATE
- CCIE
- Gaokao
- GRE
Now, when we know the names of these toughest exams, let us look more deeply into what makes them so tough. Here, in this article we will not only stress upon toughest exams in the world but also on toughest exams in India.
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Toughest Exams in the World
Master Sommelier Diploma Exam
Conducted by CMS, i.e., Court of Master Sommelier, this exam is conducted in order to improve the quality of beverage service by the sommeliers. What makes this exam though is its 3 stages which include theory, service and blind tasting. For this one has to exactly know the years, region and dates on which the wines were made. Because of its difficulty it takes 5-6 attempts for someone to clear it and atleast 3 months for a master to clear it, proving the difficulty of this exam.
All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam
Conducted by the Oxford University to select candidates for a 7-year fellowship at the university, this exam comes at number 2 in our list of toughest exams in the world. One can realize this by the fact that only 2 out of 80 students are able to clear this exam. In this, they are supposed to write 4 essays, 2 on general and 2 on specific topics from the humanities stream. The time given for each essay is three hours, and the questions asked are subjective, based on Humanities topics. Through this test, the examiner tests the candidate’s ability in debate, knowledge of the topic, clarity, thinking, the way of explanation, etc. On passing the exam, a viva round is conducted where students need to give an oral explanation of their answers.
UPSC (Union Public Service Commission)
Conducted particularly by the Government of India, UPSC in conducted to fill up the top government posts in India such as Indian Administrative Services, Indian Foreign Service etc. Consisting of three rounds, the prelims, mains and personality test, which involves objective, subjective and one on one interview with senior officers respectively, UPSC has an unmatchable level of competition where 5lakh candidates compete for less than a 1000 posts. However, being the most prestigious exam in India, competing for it is worthy enough.
CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
Just as the name suggests, CFA, is an extremely tough exam in the field of finance. This exam test ones knowledge of finance tools and technologies. It consists of 3 levels which are of 6 hours each and of 240 marks each. By this, one can assume how tiring is this exam. Moreover, about 1,00,000 students from across 100 countries sit for this exam which speaks much about the competition involved. Thus, it gets placed in our list of toughest exam across the world.
Mensa
Mensa is one of the oldest societies in the world, which is known to have candidates with the highest IQ when compared to 98% people across the globe, which means that only top 2% people with the highest IQ. Extremely prestigious society, Mensa conducts an IQ exam which test the candidates problem solving, critical thinking and reasoning capabilities. Because of such subjects, Mensa exam is very demanding and therefore, extremely tough.
IIT-JEE ( Indian Institute of technology Joint Entrace Exam)
Conducted in India for selection of candidates in the most premium engineering University IIT i.e., Indian Institute of Technology, IIT-JEE has an extreme competition which is proved by the statistics of the year 2019, in which over 11 lakh students competed for just 13376 seats. Moreover, this exam has a vast syllables and the questions that come are unpredictable, making the exam even more tough. Thus, it can be called one of the toughest exam in India and in the world.
GATE:- Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering
As the name suggests GATE is another exam that helps students to take admission in master’s courses in top universities like IIT, IIM etc. This exam is conducted in countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and UAE. Infact, its marks are accepted in certain colleges in Singapore and Germany. It tests candidate for there knowledge in science, mathematics, engineering and general aptitude. The question paper of this exam consists both of numerical and MCQ’s, making it very difficult.
CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert)
Conducted by the Cisco Systems in order to hire for the position of Internetworking Expert, this exam is one of the toughest exam in the world. It consists of 2 phases and only those who are able to clear the 1st phase get to compete in the second phase. But, the hardest part of this is that the 2nd phase is 8 hours long making the exam tiring. The total % of people who are able to crack this exam is just 1%. But, again, competing for this exam is worth it as its certificate is extremely prestigious in the networking industry.
Gaokao
Gaokao is an exam in China for college admission. 12 years are required to prepare for Gaokao. To crack this examination, 12 years of preparation is needed. This test is accepted by the Chinese Institution that is why it is designed in such a way to measure the abilities and skills of students. The difficulty level of this exam is such that certain American and European universities have now started to take into consideration the Gaokao score for admission into their college. One can assume it’s difficulty by this question where students, in 2013 were asked to write an essay stressing upon Edison’s reaction on mobile phones if he was teleported to the 21st century.
GRE:- Graduate Record examination
This exam is basically conducted for those who want to study at some foreign land. Thousands of students who wish to study abroad compete for this exam making it very difficult to crack. To be eligible for this exam the candidate must hold a graduation degree. This exam is for those students who wish to pursue their postgraduate course in any discipline from abroad. The duration of the GRE is 3 hours 40 minutes in which questions based on Analytical Writing, Verbal Section, and Quantitative Reasoning are asked. The marks of this exam are considered by many US universities making it a dream exam for those aspiring to study in US.
Some Other Tough Exams in the World
So now, when we know a lot about the top most difficult exams, there are few more exams that have a lot of competition and are tough. So below mentioned are such exams that again are very difficult.
CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test)
It is one of the most comprehensive test based in South Korea. It is held annually on the second Thursday in the month of November. During the test day, all the government employees of South Korean are ordered to arrive late to their work to avoid traffic so that candidates can reach on time.
LNAT (Law National Aptitude Test)
A UK based exam, LNAT is conducted for those rhi wish to have a career in the filed of law. It helps candidate understand what it takes to be a lawyer and at the same time checks if the person has similar qualities. This exam was initially conducted by the Oxford University, but now it is an important law exam in UK. It is conducted in more than 100 centers all around the world and thousand of students appear for this exam.
UMSLE (United States Medical Licensing Exam)
This exam is conducted for those who wish to have a promising career in the field of medicine. It is conducted by National Board of Medical Examiners and Federation of State medical Board. This exam consists of 3 stages in which the physician is made to apply all his knowledge to treat a patient effectively. When one clears this exam, they are awarded with a medical license making them able to participate in various activities in the field of medicine.
California Bar Exam
Conducted by the State of California, CBE is conducted in order to select students for the BAR society. It’s cut off is 144 and is conducted two times in a year. One can understand its difficulty by the fact that in 2018, only 40% of the applicants were able to make through this exam.
CA (Chartered Accountant)
Conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountant, CA exam takes place in 3 stages out of which the last is the toughest. The first stage is CA Foundation, second is CA intermediate and the third is CA finals. Students start preparing for this exam during or just after their graduation in order to be CA. However, the first 2 stages are quite bearable, the last one is very difficult to crack.
Since we know about the toughest exams in the world, let’s read about some of the toughest exams in India. They are as follows:-
- UPSC CSE
- NEET UG
- IIT-JEE
- CA
- AIIMS UG
- GATE
- National Defense Academy (NDA)
- Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
- UGC -NET
- National Institute of Design Entrance Exam
So here we have discussed all the toughest exams of the world and India. The candidates who wish to crack any of these exams, need to work hard.
