HSK 5 study guide: the new test, its speaking paper and a 20-week plan (video)
HSK 5 from 13 December 2026: 3,600 words, a 72-question paper and a 23-minute speaking test. Test day, reading pace, the new words and a 20-week plan.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:25The short answer
- 0:47Who asks for HSK 5
- 1:10Your test date decides
- 1:36What's on the test
- 2:25The speaking paper
- 3:32Reading and writing
- 4:143,600 words
- 4:59Pass mark and plan
- 5:49Practice tests
- 6:28What to do next
Transcript
Start
HSK 5 is where Chinese becomes a working language. From 13 December, it asks for 1,100 more words. And even if you passed the old HSK 5, about 1,450 words are still new to you. From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: the HSK 5 study guide. The new test, its speaking paper, and a 20-week plan.
The short answer
The short answer. HSK 5 is the fifth of the nine levels of China's official Mandarin exam. From 13 December, it tests 3,600 words in a written paper, plus a short speaking paper. The new pass mark isn't published. And from a solid HSK 4, about five months of daily study is a realistic plan.
Who asks for HSK 5
Who asks for HSK 5? In 2018, China's education ministry set the line: level 4 to enter a degree taught in Chinese, and level 5 by graduation. Tsinghua recommends HSK 5 for one engineering bachelor's. And in Shanghai's guide to work permit points, HSK 5 or above earns all five points for Chinese.
Your test date decides
So which HSK 5 will you sit? The 13 December sitting is the first to use the new HSK, called HSK 3.0. Earlier sittings, like 7 November, use the old paper. For December, paper bookings close on 16 November, and computer bookings on 3 December. Your centre may close sooner. And expect to book the speaking paper together with the written one.
What's on the test
What's on the written paper? 72 questions, printed in characters only. Listening is 35 of them. Reading has three parts: fill the gaps, put paragraphs back in order, which is new at HSK 5, and answer questions on four longer texts. Writing is a story from four pictures, then an essay. The old paper had 100 questions. The new one has 72, and runs about a quarter of an hour shorter. Writing keeps its 40 minutes, and spends them on two longer essays. And plan for a long afternoon. One Hong Kong centre starts HSK 5 at two, and the speaking paper at twenty past four. Speaking comes last, when you're most tired. So eat first, bring water, and arrive 30 minutes early.
The speaking paper
Now, the speaking paper. Five items in about 23 minutes, and ten of those minutes are preparation. First, you retell two short passages, each heard once, for a minute and a half each, with no preparation. Then you tell a story from three photos, for two minutes. Last, you answer two printed questions, for two and a half minutes each. Each passage runs about 115 characters, just over half a minute. The second sample begins 当孩子讲故事时，父母应该善于做孩子的听众。 When a child tells a story, parents should be good listeners. It ends with the payoff: the child comes to love reading. A good retell keeps that chain of advice, reason and result. The two questions ask for your view. One asks how 互联网, the internet, has affected your life. The other gives a saying, 活到老，学到老, never too old to learn, and asks what you think it means. Plan a view, two reasons with an example each, and a one-line ending.
Reading and writing
How fast do you need to read? We counted every character in the reading sections of both official sample papers. The new HSK 5 asks for about 90 characters a minute, half as fast again as HSK 4. But the last three texts run about 370 characters each, so train to read one in two and a half minutes. Writing gives you 40 minutes for at least 300 characters. First, a story of 100 characters from four pictures. Then an essay of 200, on a topic like something you once tried. The old paper asked for about 80 characters per essay, so that's roughly double. And on paper, you write by hand.
3,600 words
Now, the words. The new HSK 5 adds 1,600, for 3,600 in all. We matched each one against the old lists. 860 were old HSK 5 words, and 125 came down from the old HSK 6. And 576 had never been on any HSK list. Many are the everyday Chinese of phones, shops and services. 充值, top up. 上传, upload. 二手, second-hand. 预约, book an appointment. The payoff: the new list covers about 83% of the words people say on screen, against 74% for the old one.
Pass mark and plan
What score do you need? On the old HSK 5, you pass with 180 of 300. For the new paper, nobody can tell you yet. On 27 October, we found no new score scale, and no rule for how speaking counts. So if a university quotes HSK 5 with 180, ask what it will accept. And treat 60% on practice tests as a floor. Twenty weeks from a solid HSK 4 works if you study most days: about 13 new words a day, with the last two weeks kept for review. Retell daily from week one, time your reading from week seven, and write both essays every week from week thirteen. And 13 December is close. From HSK 4, it would mean over 30 new words a day. For most learners, a sitting next year is the better bet.
Practice tests
Which practice tests? Take CLEC's free official sample first, untimed. HSK Mock sells two new-format papers at $9.99 each. And SayMei's HSK 5 practice test, with both papers, is free with an account. SayMei wrote every question, so it's a practice test in the new HSK format, not an official paper. Where does SayMei fit? It helps most with the speaking paper: retelling, describing and holding a view out loud. It won't mark your handwriting or grade your essays, so for detailed essay feedback, a human teacher is the better buy.
What to do next
So, what next? Check what your programme or employer asks for. Pick a realistic date. Take the official sample, untimed. Start the daily retell now. And save a full practice test for the end. You can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, in a short spoken lesson at your level. The full guide, with every source, is on the page at saymei dot app.