Background <p>Despite existing research on disparities between vocational and general high school students, resilience remains an under-explored non-academic outcome. Furthermore, the role of belongingness and the influence of school climate are insufficiently understood. This study investigates the resilience gap between vocational and general high school students in China, examining the mediating effect of belongingness and the moderating effect of school climate.</p> Methods <p>This study utilized 2018 PISA data from 7,609 students in China. Resilience was the dependent variable and school type the predictor. Belongingness served as the mediator, while school climate, measured via competition and cooperation scales, acted as the moderator. Analyses included regression models, Overlap Weights (OW) for robustness, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test mediation, and interaction terms for moderation, controlling for student and school factors.</p> Results <p>Regression analysis revealed a significant negative effect of school type on resilience (β = − 0.101, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), indicating that general high school students report lower resilience than vocational students. OW confirmed this finding. SEM results demonstrated that belongingness partially mediates this relationship (β = − 0.022, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). Notably, a competitive school climate significantly negatively moderates the link between school type and resilience (β = − 0.109, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), whereas cooperation showed no significant effect.</p> Conclusions <p>The study reveals that general high school students exhibit lower resilience than their vocational counterparts, a gap partially driven by differences in belongingness. The exacerbating impact of a competitive school environment on this disparity underscores the role of structural contexts. These findings suggest that policymakers should prioritize fostering belongingness and mitigating excessive competition to enhance resilience across educational tracks.</p>