Guide

HSK exam guides

xiōng yǒu chéng zhú — “To have the finished bamboo already in mind”

What each HSK paper asks of you, how HSK 3.0 differs from the old scale, where to sit it, and what the certificate is actually worth.

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A guide to taking the HSK 1 (HSK 3.0)Everything the HSK 1 paper asks of you: 40 questions in 32 minutes, no writing section, and the 500 words and 54 grammar points behind them. 6 min A guide to taking the HSK 2 (HSK 3.0)The HSK 2 paper in full: 60 questions in 47 minutes, still no writing section, and what changes from HSK 1 besides the word count. 6 min A guide to taking the HSK 3 (HSK 3.0)HSK 3 adds a writing section and doubles the paper. What the three sections ask, the 950 words and 81 grammar points behind them, and how to pace 80 questions. 7 min A guide to taking the HSK 4 (HSK 3.0)The HSK 4 paper: 100 questions in 95 minutes across listening, reading and writing — and why this is the level most often written into a requirement. 7 min A guide to taking the HSK 5 (HSK 3.0)HSK 5 in detail: 100 questions in 115 minutes, 40 of them writing, and the shift from understanding sentences to understanding what a text is doing. 7 min A guide to taking the HSK 6 (HSK 3.0)The HSK 6 paper and its single most feared task: read a 1,000-character article, then rewrite it as a summary with the source taken away. 8 min A guide to taking the HSK 7-9 (HSK 3.0)The band that did not exist under HSK 2.0: 210 minutes, five sections including translation and speaking, and one paper that places you at 7, 8 or 9. 9 min HSK 2.0 vs HSK 3.0: what actually changedNine levels instead of six, a three-way scale of characters, words and grammar, and a band above the old ceiling. What is different, and what it means for a certificate you already hold. 8 min Where and how to sit the HSKHow registration works, the difference between the paper and internet-based tests, what to bring on the day, and how to find a test centre near you. 7 min What an HSK certificate is actually worthWhy HSK exists, where it is genuinely required in China, what it does for study, work and visas — and the claims about it that are not true. 8 min

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