Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for selecting a control channel, and are applied to a communication system, to enable UE to select a control channel suitable for itself in a multi-control channel communications system. The method includes: listening, by UE, to a first control channel, and measuring a value of a performance parameter of a signal received by using the first control channel, and the first control channel is one of the at least two control channels; and when determining, according to the value of the performance parameter, that the first control channel meets a residence condition, determining the first control channel as a target control channel, where the target control channel is used to receive downlink control information sent by a base station.