HSK exam guide: levels, format, scores and a plan to pass (video)
The HSK changes on 13 December 2026. Which version you'll sit, each level's format, pass marks, deadlines, fees and speaking, plus a study planner.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:19The short answer
- 0:44HSK 2.0 or 3.0?
- 1:11The HSK levels
- 2:07Test day and speaking
- 2:56Passing scores
- 3:22Dates, booking and fees
- 4:38Plan by words per week
- 5:38Three wrong claims
- 6:05What to do next
Transcript
Start
Book the HSK for November 7, and you sit the old exam. Book December 13, and you sit a new one, with a speaking test attached from HSK 3. From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: the HSK exam guide. Levels, format, scores, and a plan to pass.
The short answer
The short answer: the HSK is China's official Mandarin proficiency exam. Regular sittings before December 13, 2026, use the old six-level HSK 2.0. From that date, HSK 3.0 applies: nine levels, and a speaking test you must book with every level from HSK 3. Its pass marks? Not published yet.
HSK 2.0 or 3.0?
So which one will you sit? On or before November 7, it's HSK 2.0. From December 13, it's HSK 3.0. Chinese Testing International, CTI, announced that launch on September 8. On October 7, we read its test-centre directory for eight countries. Every centre offering December 13 sold it with the new speaking test. Not one sold the old HSKK that day.
The HSK levels
The HSK's full name is 汉语水平考试, the Chinese proficiency test. HSK 3.0 has nine levels in three stages, and levels 7, 8 and 9 share one advanced paper that places you by score. The new word lists are bigger at every level. HSK 1 doubles, from 150 words to 300. HSK 4 goes from 1,200 to 2,000. And levels 7 to 9 need 11,000. Where does the word 'fluent' first appear in the official competency profile? At HSK 6. And there's no official CEFR match for HSK 3.0. In 2009, CTI matched HSK 6 to C2. In 2010, Germany's association of Chinese teachers rejected that, and put it at about B2. So treat every CEFR chart as an estimate.
Test day and speaking
From HSK 3 up, the new written papers are shorter. HSK 4 drops from 100 questions to 70. But the test day doesn't get shorter. Add the speaking test, and an HSK 6 sitting grows from 140 minutes to about 148. So time your mocks with speaking included. And from HSK 3, there's no pinyin above the characters. Do you have to take the HSKK speaking test? From December 13, yes, for HSK 3 to 6, and each of those levels now has its own speaking paper. At HSK 3, you repeat 8 sentences, describe 5 pictures and answer 2 questions. From HSK 4, you retell 2 passages, describe a picture and answer 2 questions. And every task runs on a timer.
Passing scores
Passing scores. On HSK 2.0, you pass on your total. Levels 1 and 2 pass at 120 out of 200, and levels 3 to 6 at 180 out of 300. That's 60%, with no minimum per section. On HSK 3.0, nobody can tell you the pass mark yet. None of the official documents we read gives one, as of October 6.
Dates, booking and fees
Now, deadlines. For December 13, CTI closes paper registration on November 16, and computer registration on December 3, at midnight Beijing time. But your centre may close first. Most computer-based listings we read closed on November 27, six days earlier. So use whichever date comes first. Results are due on December 28 for computer, and January 15, 2027, for paper. In most countries, you'll sit the HSK at a test centre. On October 7, the only home listings in our eight countries were in the US, plus one in the Philippines. And each centre sets its own fee. For HSK 4 with speaking, we found 370 ringgit in Malaysia, 900 Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong, and $60 in Vietnam. Booking is online, on CTI's website, and it only counts once it's paid. Cancel up to 27 days before for a full refund. From 26 to 10 days out, you get 50% back. After that, nothing. On the day, bring the printed ticket and your original ID, and arrive 30 minutes early. Late for the speaking test means no test. And your score report is valid for two years.
Plan by words per week
How long will you need? The only official study-time guide is for HSK 2.0, and teachers rejected even that. So plan by words per week. Take our planner's default: HSK 4 on December 13, from HSK 3 on the new list, at five hours a week. From October 6, that meant about 130 new words a week. That's about three minutes per new word, for everything. Switching lists costs less than the totals suggest. If you know the whole HSK 2.0 list up to level 4, you already know 1,140 of the 1,978 different words on the new list up to level 4. That leaves 838 to learn. Then prepare section by section. Do the official sample paper in week one. Learn a fixed number of words every week. Record yourself on each speaking task, with the real timers. And take a full mock halfway through, then two in the last fortnight.
Three wrong claims
Three claims you'll see that are wrong. One: 'HSK 3.0 started in July 2026.' That's when the new syllabus took effect. The first exam is December 13. Two: 'You need 60% in every section.' CTI only gives a total pass mark. And three: 'Handwriting starts at level 5.' The new HSK 2 sample paper already asks you to write characters.
What to do next
So, what next? Check which version you'll sit. Register before your centre's cut-off. Do a timed sample paper this week. Put your date and level into the planner. And practise speaking out loud: from HSK 3, it's part of every booking. SayMei helps most with speaking, the part that's hardest to practise alone. You can talk with Mei Lin for free: your first lesson is 10 minutes, with no account and no card. The full guide, with the planner and every source, is on the page at saymei dot app.