A TOTAL of 9.42 million Chinese high school students started taking "Gaokao," or the annual national college admission exam, today.

The number marks a tiny increase from that in 2014, which stood at 9.39 million, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education.

The grueling test is deemed a "battle to determine fate," as its results will decide whether a student goes to college, back to school for another year, or tries to find a job.