HSK 6 study guide: the new test, its speaking paper and a 24-week plan

HSK 6 is the level top graduate schools ask for

Most Chinese-taught degrees ask for less than HSK 6. China's education ministry admits international students at level 4 and expects level 5 by graduation, and HSK 6 is where the most selective programmes set their bar.

Peking University is the clearest case. Its 2026 brochure for international graduate students asks for HSK 6 for every programme taught in Chinese, with a minimum score for the essay as well as the total.

Here's what the rules we read ask for:

Sources: the Ministry of Education's 2018 standard, Peking University's 2026 graduate brochure, BLCU's 2026 teachers' scholarship guide and Shanghai's work permit guide, all read 27 October 2026. The scores are on the old 300-point scale.

Two things follow. If you plan to teach Chinese, HSK 6 matters, because BLCU's doctorate in the field asks for it. And for a work permit in China, HSK 6 earns no more points than HSK 5.

So we suggest checking your target programme's own page before you book. If it quotes a score, it's quoting the old scale, and we come back to that below.

Your test date decides which HSK 6 you sit

The 13 December sitting is the first to use the new HSK, called HSK 3.0, Chinese Testing International announced. Earlier sittings, such as 7 November, use the old HSK 2.0 paper and its word list.

For the December sitting, CTI takes paper bookings until midnight Beijing time on 16 November, and computer bookings until 3 December. Your centre may close sooner, so look it up today.

Results come out on 28 December for the computer test and 15 January on paper, CTI's date service shows.

Expect to book the speaking paper with the written one. For its September pilot, CTI's rules said levels 3 to 6 must be booked together with their speaking paper.

CTI's 13 December notice doesn't repeat that rule. Most centres in our October check of CTI's directory list a level-matched speaking paper for that date, and none list the old HSKK. If your centre lists HSK 6 without one, ask it before you pay.

Under the old system, HSK 5 and HSK 6 candidates shared one speaking test, HSKK Advanced. Now each level has its own. The pilot rules priced HSK 6 with its speaking paper the same as HSK 6 plus HSKK Advanced, and each centre sets the actual fee.

For example, Hong Kong's CUHK lists HK$800 for HSK 6 and HK$500 for its speaking paper. Our HSK exam guide compares fees and centres in more countries.

One more rule: CTI's candidate rules don't let you book HSK 5 and HSK 6 on the same day.

CTI hasn't published next year's dates yet.

What's on the HSK 6 test?

HSK 6 checks that you can communicate richly and fluently, including in general professional settings. That's how CLEC, which writes the syllabus, sums up the level in its competency profile.

The written paper has 82 questions in three sections. Here's each part as it appears on CLEC's official sample paper, which prints characters only:

• Listening. You hear short and longer recordings, and pick one of four printed answers, 40 questions in three parts.
• Reading, part 1. You fill the gaps in two short texts, choosing the word that fits each gap.
• Reading, part 2. You put whole sentences back into two texts. One sentence on the list belongs nowhere, so you have to rule it out.
• Reading, part 3. You read five long articles, such as a profile of a high-speed rail maintenance worker, and answer four questions on each.
• Writing, part 1. You write a practical notice of at least 150 characters. The sample asks for an online ad for a flatmate.
• Writing, part 2. You write an argument essay of at least 300 characters on a set question.

The old paper's error-spotting task is gone. It asked you to spot the sentence with a grammar error, 语病(yǔbìng), ten times over. The new reading section spends that time on longer texts.

The new paper is a quarter of an hour shorter than the old one. Here's where the time went:

Sources: the covers of CLEC's new HSK 6 sample paper and CTI's old one. The old paper has 101 questions in about 140 minutes, the new one 82 in about 125.

So the new paper trades question count for production. The single summary of the old writing section becomes two essays of your own, in the same 45 minutes.

Plan for a long morning on test day

On 13 December, plan to spend the morning at your centre. The written paper and the speaking paper are separate sessions, with a short gap between them.

CUHK's December timetable starts HSK 6 at nine and its speaking paper at half past eleven. CTI's September pilot used the same two times. Here's that morning, minute by minute:

Sources: CUHK's 13 December notes, CTI's pilot timetable and the sample papers' own timings. Your centre's times may differ.

That's close to three hours, and the speaking paper comes last, soon after 45 minutes of essay writing. We suggest a real breakfast, water, and a quiet retell during the gap to switch your brain from writing to speaking.

Arrive 30 minutes early, as CTI's rules ask. Latecomers are refused once reading starts, and they aren't let into the speaking test at all.

The speaking paper: retell, four photos, two views

The HSK 6 speaking paper has five items in about 23 minutes, and ten of those minutes are preparation. You record your answers through a headset.

It has the same parts and timings as the HSK 5 speaking paper. What changes is the topics, and the photo story, which has four photos instead of three. Here are the three parts, as CLEC's sample paper sets them out:

Source: CLEC's HSK 6 speaking sample paper and its recording.

We timed the sample recording from its first greeting to its last word. Here's how those 23 minutes unfold:

Source: our silence timing of CLEC's HSK 6 speaking recording. Short instructions between the steps are left out.

The retell is where we suggest you start. Each sample passage lasts about half a minute, and you hear it once, with no time to prepare. Then you have a minute and a half to tell it back in your own words. Keep its chain: the situation, what happened, and the point it makes.

For the photo story, you get three minutes to look at four numbered photos and plan. Note one verb for each photo and a closing line, so the story moves rather than lists.

The last two items ask for your view, and the sample paper prints both questions. Question 4 asks what you have in common with your parents' generation, and how you differ:

• 你觉得自己和父母那一代人有什么相同和不同的地方？Nǐ juéde zìjǐ hé fùmǔ nà yí dài rén yǒu shénme xiāngtóng hé bùtóng de dìfang?

Question 5 quotes a saying, "the best investment is investing in yourself", 最好的投资就是投资自己 zuì hǎo de tóuzī jiù shì tóuzī zìjǐ, and asks whether you agree. A clear opening buys you time: "I agree, because what you learn always stays yours." 我赞成这个观点，因为学到的东西永远是自己的。Wǒ zànchéng zhège guāndiǎn, yīnwèi xuédào de dōngxi yǒngyuǎn shì zìjǐ de.

Two and a half minutes is a long time to talk alone. Plan a view, two reasons with an example each, and a one-line ending, and you'll fill it.

Our guide to the HSK speaking test compares the speaking papers at every level and has a practice timer for each task.

Reading asks about 115 characters a minute

The reading section gives you 40 minutes for 40 questions. That's one minute per question, with everything you have to read inside that minute.

We counted every Chinese character a candidate reads in the reading section of both official sample papers. That includes the texts, questions and answer choices, but not the instructions. The new HSK 6 paper has about 4,600 characters, the old one about 6,400.

Divide by the minutes, and here's how the pace compares with HSK 4, HSK 5 and native adults:

Sources: our count of CLEC's new and CTI's old sample papers, using the same method as our HSK 4 and HSK 5 guides, and Brysbaert's 2019 review of reading-rate studies, converted at its own 1.5 characters per word. The exam figures include time to answer.

Two things stood out. Each step up adds about 25 to 30 characters a minute, so HSK 6 asks a quarter more than HSK 5. And the new HSK 6 asks a little less than the old one did, because its 40 minutes carry less text.

The averages hide the hard part. The five long articles in part 3 run from about 460 to 610 characters, with four questions each. At a minute a question, each article and its questions get four minutes.

Leave a minute and a half for the four questions, and you must read each article in about two and a half minutes. That's about 200 characters a minute, close to a native adult reading aloud.

So we suggest training for exactly that. Time yourself on a 500-character news article, and aim to finish it in two and a half minutes with the argument clear.

Writing: a notice and an argument essay

The writing section has two items and 45 minutes. Together they ask for at least 450 characters, all written by you.

The first item is practical. In the sample, you're renting a two-bedroom flat and need a flatmate, 室友(shìyǒu), so you write an online notice with your requirements and the room's facilities. Practical writing like this rewards a clear layout: who you are, what's on offer, what you want, how to get in touch.

The second is an argument. The sample says technology has changed how we live, and asks whether scientific progress helps or holds back people's all-round development. A clear first line sets up the whole essay: "I believe progress in technology helps people develop in every way." 我认为科技的发展会促进人的全面发展。Wǒ rènwéi kējì de fāzhǎn huì cùjìn rén de quánmiàn fāzhǎn.

The old HSK 6 worked differently. You read a story of about 1,000 characters for ten minutes, then rewrote it from memory in about 400. That task, 缩写(suōxiě), tested memory and paraphrase, and you couldn't add your own view. The new paper asks for your view and more characters.

On paper you write by hand. The syllabus's handwriting list expects 700 characters from memory by HSK 6, out of about 1,940 to recognise.

One caveat: CLEC's sample pack gives no model essays. We'd draft both items on paper with a 45-minute timer, because typing speed won't help you on a paper test.

Only 707 old HSK 6 words are still HSK 6

The new HSK 6 adds 1,800 words, for 5,400 in all. The old HSK 6 asked for 5,000 or more, so the total barely grew. The list underneath it changed far more.

We matched every word on the old HSK 6 list against the new syllabus, using the same method as our HSK 4 and HSK 5 guides. Most of the old HSK 6 words moved up a level.

Here's where the old HSK 6 words ended up:

Source: our count, matching CTI's HSK 2.0 lists to CLEC's 2025 syllabus by written form, as in our HSK 3.0 explained guide. The syllabus numbers 1,800 entries at HSK 6; some share a written form with another entry.

The idioms went first. The old HSK 6 list had over a hundred four-character words, mostly set idioms such as "meticulous", 一丝不苟(yìsī-bùgǒu), and "pivotal", 举足轻重(jǔzú-qīngzhòng). Nearly nine in ten now sit at HSK 7 to 9, and only three stay at HSK 6.

So what fills the new HSK 6? Here's where its 1,777 written forms came from:

Source: our count, as above.

Nearly half the new HSK 6 list had never been on any HSK list. Many are the everyday words of adult life, money and work:

• "value for money", 性价比(xìngjiàbǐ)
• "remote", as in remote work, 远程(yuǎnchéng)
• "bill", 账单(zhàngdān)
• "to run", as a business or a service, 运营(yùnyíng)
• "negative", 负面(fùmiàn)

Another 237 moved up from the old HSK 5, such as "part-time job", 兼职(jiānzhí), and "marriage", 婚姻(hūnyīn). About 80 left the lists, among them "compass", 指南针(zhǐnánzhēn).

We found that the reshuffle hits old certificate holders hardest. If you passed the old HSK 6, you'd already know about 3,200 words of the new HSK 1 to 6 list, which leaves about 2,150 to learn.

The new list buys you more real Chinese. Matched against SUBTLEX-CH, a word count of Chinese film subtitles, the new HSK 1 to 6 words cover about 86% of the words people say on screen. The old list covered about 77%.

So we suggest starting with the words you haven't met. Our HSK 6 word list has all of them with pinyin, English and audio, and marks what changed from HSK 2.0.

HSK 7 to 9 is a separate exam

HSK 6 is the last level with its own paper. Above it, HSK 7, 8 and 9 share one exam, and your score decides which of the three you reach, or whether you fall below HSK 7.

That exam runs on its own dates. In 2026 it sits on 9 May and 22 November, and only by computer, CTI's calendar shows.

Here's how the two compare:

Sources: CLEC's 2025 syllabus and new sample papers, and CTI's HSK 7–9 page. CTI's page still describes an older 98-question version.

Translation is the biggest change we found. In the new syllabus, translation tasks appear only at levels 7 to 9, and the sample asks you to put two English passages into Chinese.

So if HSK 6 is your goal, you don't need to plan for translation. If you're aiming higher, our HSK exam guide covers HSK 7 to 9 in full.

Pass marks for the new HSK 6 aren't out

On the old HSK 6, you pass with 180 of 300 points, CTI's old guide to the level says. Listening, reading and writing count equally, and only the total decides.

For the new paper, nobody can tell you the pass mark yet. On 27 October we found no new score scale in CTI's notices, its pilot rules or the sample papers, and no rule for how speaking counts.

That matters more at HSK 6 than anywhere else, because graduate schools quote exact scores. Peking University's "210, with 65 in writing" belongs to the old scale. If you sit the new paper, ask the programme what it will accept.

Until CTI publishes the scale, we suggest marking your practice tests against a margin. Treat 60% as a floor, and keep practising until you clear it comfortably on every section.

How to pass HSK 6 in 24 weeks

Twenty-four weeks from a solid new HSK 5 is a workable plan if you study most days. It means about 12 new words a day for 22 weeks, with the last two kept for review.

There's no official study time for HSK 6, old or new: CTI's old guide gives a word count but no number of years. So plan by words per week, and stretch the plan if your test is further off.

Here's the plan, in three blocks plus review:

The weekly focus is our own plan, not CLEC's.

If you passed the old HSK 6, expect closer to seven months, because about 2,150 words are new to you. From the old HSK 5, there are about 3,000 words to learn, so plan on nine months or more.

And 13 December is close. From a solid HSK 5, it would mean almost 40 new words a day. For most learners, a sitting next year is the better bet.

Each day, aim for an hour or more. Five habits make it count:

• Learn words in phrases. The gap-fill questions test which word fits a sentence, so learn each word with the words it goes with.
• Retell a passage every day. Play a 30-second clip once, then retell it for a minute and a half. The test gives you one listen and no preparation.
• Read the news against a clock. A 500-character article in two and a half minutes is the pace part 3 asks for.
• Write both essays every week. One practical notice and one argument, by hand and against the clock.
• Argue out loud. Pick a question, take a side and talk for the full two and a half minutes.

Practice tests in the new HSK 6 format

Full papers in the new format are still rare, as far as we could find. We suggest the official sample first, and save at least one paper for the final fortnight.

We checked each provider's own page in October. Here's how they compare:

Sources: CLEC's sample pack, CTI's trial, HSK Mock's HSK 6 page and our guide to free HSK practice tests.

SayMei's practice tests follow the published structure of the new HSK 6: the same parts, number of questions and timing, with words from the 2025 syllabus. SayMei wrote every question, so they're practice tests in the new HSK format, not official papers.

You can play every listening track free on the listening page, without an account. Get practice test 1, practice test 2 and the HSK 6 speaking mock test, which has two timed papers.

Old papers still help with reading speed, and we suggest using them for it. One caveat: they test the old word list, and most of its idioms now belong to HSK 7 to 9.

Free resources for each part of the paper

These follow the new HSK 6 list:

• Words. Our HSK 6 word list has every word with pinyin, English and audio, and a CSV for Anki. The HSK 6 vocabulary workbook practises choosing the precise word and the right register.
• Reading. The HSK 6 reading practice book works on structure, implication and the writer's purpose. All the HSK 5 and 6 workbooks are free with a SayMei account.
• Writing. The HSK 6 characters page has the 150 characters this level adds to the handwriting list, with stroke order. The synthesis and extended writing workbook practises longer arguments.
• Listening. Our listening practice has dialogues graded by HSK level, with audio, pinyin and English you can hide.
• Textbooks. If you'd rather work from a book, our HSK book guide checks which ones follow the new list.

Coming up from HSK 5? Our HSK 5 study guide covers the level below, our HSK 4 study guide the one before it, and the level test takes about five minutes.

Where SayMei fits, and where it doesn't

SayMei is an app for learning Mandarin by speaking with Mei Lin, an AI teacher. For HSK 6, the speaking paper is where it helps most: retelling, describing and arguing a view for two and a half minutes.

SayMei Premium costs $5.99 a month for 200 minutes with Mei Lin. Depending on your country, you start with a free first lesson or a free week that needs a card. We checked our pricing page in late October.

It isn't an exam simulator. SayMei's HSK 6 practice tests aren't official, and no one can turn their scores into a pass or fail yet.

It also won't grade your essays against CLEC's rules, because those rules aren't published. At HSK 6, graduate schools look at the writing score itself, so if you need detailed essay feedback, a human teacher is the better buy.

What to do next

• Check what your programme asks for. Read its own page, and ask how it treats the new scale.
• Pick a realistic date. Count the words you still need, and book a sitting that leaves room for review.
• Take the official sample untimed. It shows the format and which section needs the most work.
• Start the daily retell now. One short passage a day, retold in your own words for the full time.
• Save a full practice test for the end. Take both papers in one sitting, with a timer.

Start today with the words you haven't met on our HSK 6 word list.