BEIJING, China (AFP) — Mothers in crimson dresses and fathers clutching umbrellas huddled together in drizzly Beijing after sending their children into an exam hall on Friday, the first day of China’s biggest ever “gaokao” tests that will shape the futures of millions of high school kids.

The number of students taking this year’s multi-subject gaokao series is set to be a record high, with the Ministry of Education saying that 13.42 million candidates have registered for the high-stakes tests.

“People say that this is the start of a life,” 50-year-old mother Zhi Haihong told Agence France-Presse. “So one cannot slack off.”

Zhi donned a traditional qipao dress to bring her daughter to the examination site in central Beijing, in the hopes that its auspicious bright-red color would offer good luck.

China’s gaokao drills high school students on various subjects including Chinese, English, mathematics, science and humanities, the results of which are critical for gaining admission to university.

A list of top trending topics on social media site Weibo on Friday morning was studded with exam-related discussions, with many users sharing pictures of uniform-clad students exchanging high-fives and hugging their parents before entering testing centers.

Education authorities are on high alert each year ahead of the exams since elaborate cheating attempts have been uncovered in previous years.