HSK levels explained: which level matches your real ability?

What is the HSK?

HSK is short for 汉语水平考试 (Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì), literally "Chinese level test". It is the standardized exam of Mandarin for people who did not grow up speaking it, the role TOEFL or IELTS plays for English.

The programme belongs to the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), which sits under China's Ministry of Education. A company called Chinese Testing International (CTI) runs the sittings: by its own count, 1,522 test centres in 169 countries. Registration and results go through one official site, chinesetest.cn.

The written HSK tests listening, reading and, from level 3 of the current format, writing. You sit it on paper or on a computer at a test centre. Speaking is a separate test, covered in HSKK explained.

The levels at a glance

How many levels there are depends on the day you sit the test, because 2026 is the changeover year.

• Until late 2026: six levels. This is the format launched in 2009, often called HSK 2.0. It runs from HSK 1 (150 words) to HSK 6 (5,000 words or more).
• From December 13, 2026: nine levels. CTI announced on September 8, 2026 that HSK 3.0 launches worldwide on that date. The nine levels form three bands: elementary (1 to 3), intermediate (4 to 6) and advanced (7 to 9).

The names of levels 1 to 6 carry over. The bar for each one does not: every level now needs more words.

The three most searched levels have pages of their own, with the paper, the grammar and every new word with audio: HSK 3, HSK 4 and HSK 5.

Each HSK 3.0 level comes with one official line describing what you can do:

What is on each paper

Six-level format, sat until late 2026

Times include five minutes for filling in personal details. Source: the level pages on chinesetest.cn, read on October 5, 2026.

HSK 3.0, sat from December 13, 2026

Source: the HSK 3.0 sample papers and syllabus published by CLEC in November 2025. Word counts are cumulative.

Put the two tables next to each other and three things stand out:

1. Fewer items, less time. HSK 4 drops from 100 items in 105 minutes to 70 items in 85 minutes.
2. Writing starts earlier. The old format had no writing until level 3. The new HSK 2 has ten writing items.
3. Speaking is tied to the level. Levels 3 to 6 each come with their own speaking test, replacing the three-level HSKK.

Above level 6 sits one shared paper, HSK 7–9. Everyone takes the same test, and the score decides whether you come out below level 7, or at level 7, 8 or 9. It covers listening, reading, writing, translation and speaking, runs only on computer, and is aimed at postgraduate students, Chinese majors and people who work or research in Chinese.

Which level are you? A 2-minute check

Each row below holds six words from that level's word list. We only picked words that sit at the same level in both the old lists and the HSK 3.0 syllabus, so the result holds whichever format you end up sitting.

A word check tells you where your vocabulary is. It does not tell you whether you can keep up with the listening section or write characters under time pressure, so follow it with one full mock paper at the level it points to before you book.

Which level counts as fluent?

The honest answer is that the organiser reserves the word. In the HSK 3.0 descriptions above, "fluent" (流利) first appears at level 7. Here is how to read the levels below it:

• HSK 1 and 2 are survival levels: greetings, prices, directions, simple questions. On 300 to 500 words you can be polite and get fed.
• HSK 3 is where you start getting things done in Chinese: 1,000 words, a handwriting section and a speaking test.
• HSK 4 is the working threshold. The organiser calls it the basic language requirement for studying in China, and a 2018 Ministry of Education standard asks for the equivalent level for entry to degree programmes taught in Chinese.
• HSK 5 and 6 are where most people would call you fluent: accurate at level 5, and at level 6 comfortable at work, in study and in general professional settings.

Pass marks and how long a score lasts

In the six-level format each section is worth 100 points:

• HSK 1 and 2: listening and reading, 200 points in total, 120 to pass.
• HSK 3 and 4: listening, reading and writing, 300 points in total, 180 to pass.
• HSK 5 and 6: 300 points in total. The official pages give a full score and no pass line. The "180 to pass" you will read elsewhere comes from an older candidate handbook. Universities and employers set their own cut-offs for these two levels.

The pass line applies to the total, with no minimum per section. For HSK 3.0, we could not find officially published pass marks as of October 5, 2026, so we give none here.

A score is valid for two years, counted from the test date. Every level page on the official site says so. You will also read that "the HSK certificate never expires". That echoes older wording, from about 2010, under which results were valid long-term and the two-year limit applied to admission to Chinese institutions. Today's site no longer makes that distinction for the HSK. In practice the institution you apply to decides, and universities and scholarship bodies almost always want a score that is still in date.

How does the HSK map to CEFR?

Loosely, and not officially any more. When the six-level format launched, its organiser published a table matching HSK 1 to 6 with CEFR A1 to C2. In 2010 the association of Chinese teachers in German-speaking countries, Fachverband Chinesisch, rejected that table outright. Its argument: other languages need about 500 words for A1 and 2,000 for B1, roughly three times what the HSK asked.

The level pages on the official site no longer mention CEFR at all, and nothing official maps the new nine levels to it. If someone asks for your level, give the HSK level and score rather than a CEFR letter.

Is there a speaking test?

Yes, and under HSK 3.0 you cannot skip it from level 3 up. In the six-level format, speaking is a separate exam called HSKK with three levels. Whether you must take it alongside the written test depends on where you sit it: some regions bundle the two, others let you book them separately. From December 13, 2026, candidates for HSK 3 to 6 register for the speaking test of the same level at the same time.

The speaking tests are recorded, not held with an examiner, and the first tasks are listen-and-repeat. That makes tones and rhythm count from the first second. The parts, the timings and what the markers listen for are in HSKK explained: the HSK speaking test, level by level.

Booking the test

1. Find a centre and a dateUse "Find a Test Center" on chinesetest.cn. The 2026 calendar has eleven dates. The last three are October 17, November 7 and December 13, and the December date is the first sitting of HSK 3.0.
2. Pick the formatPaper or computer, both at a test centre. Computer results come out after about 15 days, paper results after about a month.
3. Register and pay before the deadlinePaper registration closes about four weeks before the test and computer registration about ten days before. For December 13 the deadlines are November 16 (paper) and December 3 (computer). Fees are set locally, so check your centre.
4. Keep your admission ticketYou need its number to look up your result, and the centre will ask for it when you collect the paper report, which arrives roughly 45 days after the test.

If the December switch affects your plans, read HSK 3.0: what changes and who it affects next. If you are still at the start, begin with a realistic six-month roadmap and a system for tones. And when you want the level's words to stick, Myra drills them in short games and scores your tones word by word as you say them.

Common questions