The 14 Hardest Tests in the World (2024)

6. Putnam Exam

The Putnam Exam is a math competition for college students, consisting of two 3-hour sittings on the same day. During each session, students work on just 6 complex math problems demanding creative solutions. The problems don’t require any knowledge past Algebra 2, but are difficult for even the most accomplished math majors (you can see sample Putnam exams from previous years here). Cash prizes are at stake for top individual scorers nationally, and for the math departments with the highest scorers. Some math departments also award prizes within their students only.

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7. All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam

Annually, Oxford University’s All Souls College holds an exam to select two Prize Fellows, who study at the university for free for seven years. The competition is open to bachelor’s degree recipients from Oxford who graduated from the school within the past three years and current postgraduate students. The exam consists of four papers, each lasting three hours. Students must complete two papers from their specific discipline (mostly humanities and social science subjects), and two general topics. Prompts include questions such as “What is the connection between knowing something and being certain of it?”, “Is there a trade-off between economic growth and inequality?”, and “Can we be forced to be free?”. You can see more All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam topics and grapple with them yourself.

8. Mensa

The esteemed Mensa is the oldest society for people with high IQs in the world. It operates all over the globe. For entrance, you can take the admission test or another qualifying intelligence test at any age. You must score in the 98th percentile on the Mensa Admission Test to be admitted into the nonprofit society in the United States, although different countries have their own procedures for entrance. The test questions are logic-based puzzles that can be quite challenging. You can see some examples of questions on the Mensa Workout page.

9. CCIE

Administered by Cisco Networks, the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert certification is awarded to network engineers. The exam consists of a written examination and a hands-on lab. The written component takes 120 minutes, and candidates must pass this test before attempting the 8-hour lab, which takes place in a single day. Not only is the exam extremely challenging, but it’s also expensive to sit for, at $450.

10. IES

The Indian Engineering Services/Engineering Services Examination is also held by the UPSC. The exam is meant to assess the competencies of governmental engineering recruits. It includes four stages, including a General Aptitude Test, an Objective Technical paper, a Conventional Technical paper, and an Interview. The test is highly competitive.

11. All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam

Annually, Oxford University’s All Souls College holds an exam to select two Prize Fellows, who study at the university for free for seven years. The competition is open to bachelor’s degree recipients from Oxford who graduated from the school within the past three years and current postgraduate students.

The exam consists of four papers, each lasting three hours. Students must complete two papers from their specific discipline (mostly humanities and social science subjects), and two general topics. Prompts include questions such as “What is the connection between knowing something and being certain of it?”, “Is there a trade-off between economic growth and inequality?”, and “Can we be forced to be free?”. You can see more All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam topics and grapple with them yourself.

12. USMLE

The journey towards becoming a doctor is full of difficult tests. By passing the United States Medical Licensing Examination, students are eligible to apply for a medical license in the United States. The USMLE is a three part exam that takes over 40 hours to complete. Students take Step 1 after their second or third year of medical school, Step 2 at the end of third year, and Step 3 at the end of their intern year.

The exam assesses a doctor’s ability to apply knowledge and concepts that were taught in the classroom or clinic. Step 1 is generally considered the hardest, due to the sheer volume of knowledge-based content. Step 2 and Step 3 are more clinically-focused. Students often complete 1,000 flashcards daily from a bank of 20,000 cards to study for Step 1. Put your medical training to the test with these USMLE Step 1 sample test questions.

13. California Bar Exam

To work as a licensed attorney, one must pass their state’s Bar exam. The California Bar Exam is notorious for being the most difficult bar exam in the United States. In February 2020, the California Bar Exam had an overall pass rate of only 26.8% due to California’s high minimum passing score and large candidate pool. The bar exam is conducted twice a year (July and February) and occurs over a three-day span amounting to eighteen hours of total test time. See this sneak peek of February 2020’s grueling exam to test your skills.

14. GATE

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is a comprehension exam for undergraduates who plan to seek admission into a master’s program or aim to pursue an engineering related career in India. The GATE score is incredibly important as it reflects a students’ understanding of undergraduate topics in both engineering and science. It is one of the most competitive examinations in India. The 3 hour computer-based test is composed of 65 multiple choice questions and numerical answer type questions.

Why Aren’t the SAT and ACT on this list?

Fortunately for college-bound students, the SAT and ACT aren’t the toughest exams in the world — but that doesn’t mean they’re not challenging or important. Both tests are around 3 hours long and are used by many schools as an important factor in admissions.

In fact, many selective schools use the Academic Index to condense a student’s GPA, SAT/ ACT scores, and class rank into a single number to expedite the decision-making process. Students who don’t meet minimum academic thresholds often don’t have the rest of their application read. So, your SAT and ACT scores are super important to getting over that initial hurdle, though this has changed with COVID and test-optional policies (of course, a strong score can only help you).

To learn how your test scores impact your college chances, you can use our free admissions calculator. We’ll let you know your chances at over 500 colleges in the U.S., plus give you tips for improving your profile. This can help you build a strong school list and learn where to focus your admissions efforts.

Also be sure to check out our tips and advice for cracking these standardized tests. We have tons of free study resources for the SAT and ACT.