YCT test guide for parents: levels, papers, word lists and 2027 dates

What is the YCT test?

The YCT is an international Mandarin test for primary and secondary pupils learning Chinese as a second language. It checks the Chinese they use in daily life and at school, as CTI's YCT page puts it.

CTI is Chinese Testing International, which also runs the HSK. The papers come from the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, under China's Ministry of Education. Today's YCT and the six-level HSK launched together, in 2010, a CTI notice from the time says.

You'll see a few names for it. The syllabus calls it the Youth Chinese Test, 中小学生汉语考试 Zhōngxiǎoxuéshēng Hànyǔ Kǎoshì, the Chinese test for primary and secondary pupils. CTI's site now says Chinese Proficiency Test (Youth). It's the same exam.

The YCT has two separate parts, and your child can sit either one or both on the same day:

• The written test: four levels, from YCT 1 to YCT 4, with listening and reading, plus writing at the top level.
• The speaking test: two levels, elementary and intermediate, answered into a headset and recorded.

The 2016 syllabus also planned two higher levels for the following year. CTI's pages today still list four written levels, so plan on four.

So what is it for? CTI's syllabus gives three uses: helping children check and improve their Chinese, supporting school Chinese teaching, and helping schools and centres review their courses. For your child, it's a real exam room and a certificate that shows how far they've come.

Four written levels and two speaking tests

Each written level includes every word of the level below, and the list grows fastest at the top. Here's how many words each one asks for:

Source: CTI's YCT level pages and the YCT syllabi. The speaking tests draw on about 200 words (elementary) and 400 (intermediate), CTI says.

So the step from YCT 3 to YCT 4 is the biggest in the series. CTI allows another half a school year for it, as for the step before, though it brings twice the new words.

The papers grow too. Here's each test's length, with its questions and pass mark:

Sources: the YCT 1 to YCT 4 syllabi and CTI's elementary and intermediate speaking pages. Written times include 5 minutes for personal details; speaking times include preparation.

Every written level starts at nine in the morning, local time, and both speaking tests at eleven, CTI's level pages say. A child who sits both should expect a long morning, so pack a snack for the wait between them.

Which YCT level should your child take?

We suggest booking by how long your child has had lessons. CTI's syllabi describe each level by study time, at two or three lessons a week:

Source: the YCT 1 to 4 syllabi. The last column shortens CTI's own level descriptions.

CTI publishes no age limit on the pages we read. Real candidates span primary and lower secondary school: a CTI news report from Auckland's Confucius Institute describes one sitting with children aged 7 to 14.

The speaking tests pair loosely with the written ones. By CTI's word counts, the elementary test sits just above YCT 2, and the intermediate just above YCT 3.

If Chinese is spoken at home, let reading decide the level. The first three levels print pinyin over every character, so a child who reads pinyin can cope with them. YCT 4 is the first level that asks your child to read characters without help. Our guide for heritage speakers covers that gap between speaking and reading.

The quickest check is a sample paper. Print CTI's free paper for the level you're considering and try it at home, untimed. If your child gets most answers right, book that level, and if many are guesses, drop down one.

The speaking tests: repeat, answer and describe

The speaking tests are short and run on a recording. Your child wears a headset, hears each prompt and answers in a timed gap, so your job at home is to make those gaps feel normal.

The two tests share a first part and then differ. Here's what each asks, from CTI's sample papers:

• Elementary, Part 1: listen and repeat 15 short sentences.
• Elementary, Part 2: listen and answer five everyday questions.
• Elementary, Part 3: talk about five photos, such as a family shopping or a girl painting.
• Intermediate, Part 1: listen and repeat ten longer sentences.
• Intermediate, Part 2: talk about two pictures, for up to a minute and a half each.
• Intermediate, Part 3: answer two printed questions, again a minute and a half each.

We timed CTI's two official sample recordings, gap by gap. Here's how long they leave for each kind of answer:

Source: our timing of CTI's elementary and intermediate sample recordings. Each value is the median of that task's gaps.

Eleven seconds is plenty to say one sentence, so the skill in Part 1 is holding the whole line in your head. We suggest teaching your child to wait for the end of the sentence, then say it in one go.

The answers can be short. For the elementary questions, the easy method is to reuse the question's words and swap "you" for "I":

• "What colour do you like?" 你喜欢什么颜色？ Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yánsè?
• "I like red." 我喜欢红色。 Wǒ xǐhuan hóngsè.

For a picture, three short sentences fill 40 seconds: who, where and doing what. For a photo of two children on a sofa, try "They're watching TV" and "They're very happy":

• 他们在看电视。 Tāmen zài kàn diànshì.
• 他们很高兴。 Tāmen hěn gāoxìng.

The intermediate test asks for longer answers. One of the sample's printed questions is "What sport do you like? Tell us about it", 你喜欢什么运动？请介绍一下。 Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yùndòng? Qǐng jièshào yíxià. A minute and a half is long for a child, so give the answer three steps: what, why, and one more thing.

• "I like swimming best." 我最喜欢游泳。 Wǒ zuì xǐhuan yóuyǒng.
• "Because swimming is fun." 因为游泳很好玩儿。 Yīnwèi yóuyǒng hěn hǎowánr.
• "Every Saturday I go swimming with Dad." 我每个星期六都和爸爸一起去游泳。 Wǒ měi ge xīngqīliù dōu hé bàba yìqǐ qù yóuyǒng.

The quiet part of the test is the longest. Here's each test, minute by minute:

Source: our timing of the same two recordings. Each opens with three short prompts, about 10 seconds apart, before Part 1.

So seven or ten minutes of silence come in one block, just before the long answers. Practise that too: sit with a picture for a few minutes, plan a word or two for each sentence, then talk.

YCT 1 and YCT 2: pictures, pinyin and ticks

YCT 1 and YCT 2 are picture tests, printed in colour with pinyin over every word. Your child listens, looks, and ticks, crosses or picks a picture, and every recording plays twice.

YCT 1 has seven short parts of five questions each. Here's what your child does in each:

• Listening, Parts 1 and 3: hear a word, then a sentence, and tick or cross the picture.
• Listening, Parts 2 and 4: hear a phrase, then a short dialogue, and pick one of three pictures.
• Reading, Part 1: decide whether a word matches its picture.
• Reading, Part 2: match sentences to pictures.
• Reading, Part 3: fill the gap in a short dialogue from a bank of words.

A Part 3 sentence might be "Mum is eating an apple", 妈妈在吃苹果。 Māma zài chī píngguǒ. If the picture shows Mum drinking tea, it's a cross.

YCT 2 uses the same idea with 150 words and two harder tasks. In one, your child hears a question and three spoken answers, and picks the right one. In the other, they match five written questions to five answers.

Teach one habit above all: listen to the whole sentence. In "Mum isn't at home, she's at the shop", 妈妈不在家，她在商店。 Māma bú zài jiā, tā zài shāngdiàn., the word 不(bù) "not" flips the answer.

Time isn't tight at these levels. The syllabus gives the first level more than a minute per reading question, and the sample recording pauses for 6 to 12 seconds after each listening item.

One caveat: CTI's level pages split that time a little differently from the syllabus, though the totals match. We used the syllabus, which is what the examiner reads out.

Watch for words that sound alike, such as four, 四(sì), and ten, 十(shí). Say the numbers, family words and colours aloud every day, and these stop being guesses.

YCT 3: longer dialogues, still with pinyin

YCT 3 grows the paper to 60 questions, but every question still carries pinyin. It's the last level where your child can lean on it.

Listening has 35 questions in about 20 minutes, and it moves from pictures to printed answers. In the third part, your child hears a question and picks one of three printed replies, and in the fourth, a dialogue and a question.

Reading has 25 questions in 30 minutes. One part shows a picture with three sentences, and your child picks the one that fits. For a picture of a windy street, the right one might be:

• "It's windy outside, and cold." 外面刮风了，很冷。 Wàimiàn guā fēng le, hěn lěng.

The last reading part, the longest, has ten gap-fill dialogues. Some gaps test small grammar words: in the sample, one asks your child to choose between 过(guo), 的(de) and 得(de).

On paper, your child gets five minutes after listening to copy answers onto the answer sheet. We suggest practising that step at home with a printed sheet, because a child who copies slowly loses easy marks.

YCT 4: characters only, and the first handwriting

The top level is the big step. It has 80 questions in 85 minutes, reading with no pinyin, and a writing section where your child writes on the answer sheet.

Here's what changes. Listening has four parts of ten questions, about half an hour in all, and its printed answer choices are in characters, without pinyin. Only its last part prints a sentence with pinyin.

Reading has 30 questions in 30 minutes, ending with short texts and a question on each, in characters only.

Writing has ten items in 15 minutes, in two parts:

• Put words in order. Your child gets a few words and writes them as one sentence. From 明天, 爬山, 我们 and 去 comes "We're going hiking tomorrow", 我们明天去爬山。 Wǒmen míngtiān qù páshān.
• Write the missing character. A sentence has a gap with its pinyin above. In "I get up at seven every morning", 我每天早上七点起（　）。 Wǒ měitiān zǎoshang qī diǎn qǐchuáng., the gap is 床(chuáng).

The writing section is small but new. It's an eighth of the questions and a third of the marks, because writing has its own score out of 100.

So we suggest starting handwriting early, well before the test. Our handwriting workbook for kids, free with a SayMei account, covers strokes and stroke order, and five characters a week adds up over a school year.

Reading without pinyin is the other hurdle. If your child relies on pinyin, we suggest covering it with a strip of paper when they read YCT 3 material, and uncovering it only to check.

How the YCT is marked

Every section of the written test is marked out of 100, and every level passes at 60% of the total.

The first three levels have two sections, listening and reading, and YCT 4 adds writing as a third.

The speaking tests work the same way, with one score and the same 60% to pass. The syllabi set no minimum per section, so a strong listening score can carry a weaker reading one.

CTI doesn't publish how many right answers make a pass, or how it marks the speaking tests, on the pages we read. So we suggest a margin: when your child gets about seven in ten right on a sample paper, they're ready to book.

The score report shows each section and the total, and CTI's pages describe no grades above a pass. One caveat: CTI's English YCT 4 page mentions only listening, reading and the total, but the syllabus confirms a separate writing score.

How does the YCT compare with the HSK?

The YCT and the HSK come from the same organisation, but they're different exams. The YCT is built for children, with pictures, pinyin and topics like pets, school and family. The HSK is the one universities and employers ask for.

CTI's syllabus matches them by word count. YCT 4 sits beside HSK 3, each lower YCT level sits beside the HSK level below it, and the first YCT level comes before the HSK starts.

That table was drawn for the old HSK, when HSK 3 also had 600 words.

The new HSK, from this December, follows the November 2025 syllabus, where HSK 3 has 1,000 words. When we checked, CTI's YCT pages, syllabi and new calendar showed no change to the YCT, and its HSK 3.0 launch notice doesn't mention it.

So we matched all 600 YCT words to the new HSK lists, word for word. Here's where they land:

Source: our matching of the YCT lists to CLEC's November 2025 HSK syllabus, by written form. "Not on the lists" includes names such as Beijing and phrases such as "play basketball", whose parts are HSK words.

So four in five YCT words are new HSK 1 to 3 words. That's the YCT's side of the match, though. From the HSK's side, the picture is thinner:

Source: our matching, as above. The new lists hold 300 written forms at HSK 1 and 497 at HSK 1 and 2.

The gaps are telling. Many of the missing HSK 1 words are combinations a YCT child can work out, such as "this one", 这个(zhège), or "they", 他们(tāmen).

Others are basics the YCT uses only inside longer words: book, 书(shū), appears only in school bag, 书包(shūbāo). A few belong to adult life, such as company, 公司(gōngsī), and drive, 开车(kāichē).

It works the other way too. The YCT teaches children's words that the new HSK leaves late: rabbit, 兔子(tùzi), monkey, 猴子(hóuzi), and butterfly, 蝴蝶(húdié), are HSK 5 words. Panda, 熊猫(xióngmāo), isn't on the HSK lists at all.

Some only look advanced. The HSK lists red as 红色(hóngsè) at HSK 2, and 红(hóng) on its own at HSK 5.

So after YCT 4, plan on the new HSK 1 or HSK 2 as your child's next exam. Their papers still print pinyin, the HSK exam guide explains, and our HSK 1 study guide covers the first one.

The word lists run from 80 to 600 words

The official lists are free on CTI's level pages, under the Vocabulary tab, with pinyin and English. Each level shows its new words, and the syllabus PDF under Resources explains the paper.

CTI's online lists differ slightly from the syllabus counts, we found. YCT 1 shows extra entries because it lists the 儿(-r) forms of "where", "here" and "there" separately, and YCT 4 repeats some earlier words. We use the syllabus counts throughout this guide.

Our free YCT vocabulary page has all 600 words, level by level, with pinyin, English and worksheets to print. The themes grow with the child:

• YCT 1: numbers to ten, family words such as dad, 爸爸(bàba), body words such as eyes, 眼睛(yǎnjing), and verbs such as eat, 吃(chī).
• YCT 2: a school day, with school bag, 书包(shūbāo), and pencil, 铅笔(qiānbǐ), plus colours, food, time and polite words such as sorry, 对不起(duìbuqǐ).
• YCT 3: things children do and feel, such as sing, 唱歌(chànggē), and tired, 累(lèi), with weather and linking words such as because, 因为(yīnwèi).
• YCT 4: school life, health, travel and opinions, such as exam, 考试(kǎoshì), and plan, 打算(dǎsuàn), plus four paired patterns.

One of those patterns is "not only… but also", 不但…而且… búdàn… érqiě…. The printed syllabus book also lists topics, tasks and grammar points for each level, but CTI's free PDFs leave those pages out.

So treat the word list as the core, and the sample paper as the guide to how those words are tested.

A study plan you can run at home

You don't need a tutor, or Chinese of your own, to prepare a child for the YCT. You need ten to fifteen minutes most days, audio that says every line, and a sample paper to aim at.

Short sessions work best for children. We built this 12-week plan for a child moving up one level, at any of the first three levels:

Source: our plan, built on CTI's study-time guidance and the sample papers. YCT 1 to 3 add 70 to 150 new words each.

YCT 4 needs longer, because it adds 300 words and handwriting. Plan on about six months:

• The first four months: about 75 new words a month, and two characters to write each day.
• The fifth month: one part of the paper a day, with reading done without pinyin.
• The last month: a timed paper each week, writing section included, and the speaking test's long gaps.

Adjust the mix to your child. If Chinese is only spoken at school, spend more of each session on listening and saying lines out loud. If it's spoken at home, spend it on reading characters and on writing, which talking at home doesn't practise.

If you don't speak Chinese, let the audio do the speaking. Play a line, pause it, and let your child say it back. The answer keys in our workbooks give every answer, and the speaking books a model answer for each task, so you can check without knowing the language.

Keep the speaking light. Ask the YCT-style questions at breakfast or in the car, such as "How old are you?", 你几岁？ Nǐ jǐ suì?, and let your child ask you back.

Practice materials: free ones first

Start with the official sample papers. Each written level has a free sample paper with answers and a listening recording, and each speaking test a sample paper and recording. We suggest using them twice: once at the start, untimed, and once near the end, timed.

Beyond that, here's what we found when we checked, with prices where they apply:

• SayMei's YCT books. Practice books for YCT 1, YCT 2 and both speaking tests, free with a SayMei account. Their audio plays free on each book's listening page, without an account.
• CTI's mock site. The "Do A Mock" button on CTI's YCT page opens HSK Mock, which sells five YCT papers for each written level at US$2.99 each. It lists no YCT speaking papers.
• The official papers book. CLEC's YCT Official Examination Papers, 2018 edition, has five past papers per level with recordings and answer sheets.
• The official course. The YCT Standard Course has six books for the four levels: one each for the first two levels, and two each for the last two.

Our books are practice in the YCT format, written by SayMei, so they're not past papers. Use them for the weekly sessions and keep CTI's sample paper for the timed runs.

The Standard Course is worth knowing about if your child's class uses it. Its first book covers every YCT 1 word in 12 lessons, at three or four class hours each, CTI's book list says. It's a class textbook, so for home practice the free materials above go further.

2027 has six YCT dates, three with speaking

CTI published next year's calendar in late October, and we read it on 5 November. Only the May, October and November dates include the speaking tests. Here are the next sittings, with CTI's deadlines:

Sources: CTI's 2026 and 2027 test calendars, read 5 November 2026.

Your centre's deadline can come first. For 22 November, the Leeds Business Confucius Institute closed bookings on 23 October, three days before CTI.

Some centres also run their own dates. Crestar in Singapore holds its November YCT on Saturday the 21st, and in CTI's directory, centres in Australia, Thailand and the US list YCT sittings on other November days.

Few centres list a YCT sitting

Many test centres can run the YCT, but far fewer actually schedule one. On 5 November we read CTI's public "Find a Test Center" directory for 14 countries and territories. Here are the largest:

Source: our read of CTI's public test-centre directory, 5 November 2026. Across all 14 places, 63 of 472 registered centres listed a sitting.

A centre's card shows only the sittings it has opened, so more may appear for 2027. Still, don't assume yours runs the YCT: search the directory for your city, then email the centre before you plan around a date.

Fees, and testing online or at home

Each centre sets its own fee, and at the centres we read, the YCT costs less than the HSK. Here's what they charge:

Sources: the centres' own pages, read 5 November 2026: Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Pacific Lutheran and Crestar. Crestar's fee includes revision materials.

The three UK centres charge the same, so ask yours whether it follows that list. Prices elsewhere vary, so check your own centre's before you book.

On computer at a centre, yes: CTI offers that on four of next year's six dates. At home, rarely. CTI's calendar lists no home YCT, and in our directory read, only three US centres listed one, on 29 November.

Home testing isn't new. In 2021, CTI ran home YCT sittings in countries where centres hadn't reopened, with a Windows computer, a webcam and a phone as a second camera. If your centre offers it, ask which equipment it wants, because the computer test is new to many children.

Booking the YCT and test day

You book on chinesetest.cn, in your child's name, and the booking counts only once it's paid. CTI's candidate rules, which cover the YCT, set out the steps:

1. Create an account. CTI allows one account per email address.
2. Choose the YCT, the level, paper or computer, the date and the centre.
3. Enter your child's details exactly as on their ID, and upload a recent colour photo, a JPG of 50 to 500 KB.
4. Pay. Outside mainland China, you pay the centre, in the way it asks.
5. Print the admission ticket from the account 5 to 7 days before the test.

The rules are looser on ID for the YCT than for the HSK. CTI says the YCT isn't bound by its passport and ID-card rules, so ask your centre what it accepts. Crestar, for example, asks local pupils for their school smart card.

On the day, bring the printed ticket, the ID and, for paper, two 2B pencils and an eraser. Phones, watches, food and water stay outside the room.

Our tip: arrive early, because the rules on lateness are strict. A late child waits outside until listening ends and loses that time, and isn't let in once reading starts. For the speaking test, a late child can't sit it at all.

If plans change, the refund shrinks as the date nears. Here's CTI's rule:

• 27 days or more before: a full refund, or a free change of date.
• Up to 10 days before: half the fee back, or a new date for 30% of the fee.
• Closer than that: no refund and no change.

A new date must fall within six months, at the same centre, level and format.

Results, the certificate and what it's worth

Results come about two weeks after a computer-based written test, three weeks after a computer-based speaking test, and a month after a paper one. For the May 2027 sitting, for example, CTI's calendar gives the end of May for the computer written test and mid-June for paper.

You check results on chinesetest.cn with the ticket number and name. Outside mainland China, the printed score report reaches your centre about 45 days after the test.

How long does it count? CTI's YCT pages say YCT scores stay valid long-term. Its general rules give score reports two years as proof of level. For a child, it rarely matters, because the YCT's job is to mark progress.

CTI's score review service lists only the HSK and its speaking test, so we treat the YCT result as final. The value is in what the certificate does for your child. Leeds's Confucius Institute describes the YCT as a way to show progress and get used to exams before the HSK or GCSE.

Where SayMei fits, and where it doesn't

We make practice books for four YCT tests, free with a SayMei account: YCT 1, YCT 2 and both speaking tests, each with audio for every line. They're practice in the YCT format, written by SayMei, and they're not official papers.

We don't have books for YCT 3 or YCT 4 yet, or full mock papers. For those levels, use CTI's sample papers, the official papers book and our YCT vocabulary page.

The books are free with a SayMei account, and the account should be yours, the grown-up's. SayMei doesn't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, its privacy policy says.

SayMei's main product, speaking lessons with Mei Lin, its AI teacher, isn't designed for children, so it plays no part in this plan. Nothing we make marks your child's speaking or handwriting the way an examiner would. SayMei isn't affiliated with or endorsed by CTI or CLEC.

What to do next

• Try a sample paper this week. Download CTI's paper and audio for the level you're considering, and do it together, untimed.
• Find a centre and its deadline. Search CTI's directory, then email the centre, because many close early or run their own dates.
• Pick a date with speaking if you want both. In 2027, only three of the six dates include the speaking tests.
• Start short daily sessions. Words with audio, then one question type, then a speaking game.
• Save a timed paper for the last fortnight. It's the best rehearsal for the real gaps and the real clock.

Start with the words: our YCT vocabulary page has every level's list with pinyin, English and worksheets to print.