Beijing, Jun 7 (IANS): Over nine million students in China are appearing for the National Higher Education Entrance Examination that began on Thursday and will help determine their academic and professional future.

A total of 9.75 million students will compete for the highest scores to enter the country's best universities, a according to Efe news.

The students started on Thursday with a Chinese test, which will be followed by a science or social science exam.

On Friday, the second and final day of exams will start with a common mathematics test and will conclude with an English test.

To help students concentrate, Beijing authorities have urged bus drivers not to honk.

The Ministry of Education issued a circular on Wednesday requesting examiners and educational departments to ensure noise control and to prevent students from suffering due to the heat.

Since 2016, cheating in the exams also known as "gaokao" has been deemed a crime that is included in the Chinese Penal code and punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Criminals offer gadgets to help students cheat, such as clothes equipped with microphones.

Given the number of candidates and the number of places offered, about one in four students will not score enough to go to college.