HSK test day checklist

Your admission ticket

The ticket appears in “My Account” on chinesetest.cn 5–7 days before the test. Print it, then check that your name, gender, date of birth and ID number match your passport or ID card. If anything is wrong, contact your test centre before the day. Keep the ticket after the test: you need its number to look up your result and order extra score reports.

What happens on the day

1. Arrive 30 minutes early and wait in the waiting area. Use the toilet now; there are no breaks.
2. Put your belongings in the storage area.
3. Show your ID and ticket for the identity check and security check.
4. Sit where you are told. You cannot choose your seat.
5. Staff read the instructions. On the computer test, you log in with your ticket number and the password they give you, then check your headphones.
6. The test runs section by section. You cannot go back to listening during reading, or work on writing early.

Late arrival

For the written test, if you arrive after the start but before the end of listening, you can enter only when the listening section has finished, and you do not get the time back. After reading starts, you will not be let in. For the speaking test, you cannot enter once it has started.

Paper test tips

• Fill in the answer sheet in 2B pencil, as the staff instruct. After listening you get a few minutes to transfer answers.
• You can only use the scrap paper the centre gives you, and you hand it back at the end.
• Bring a spare pencil and a good eraser; a smudged answer sheet can be misread.

Computer test tips

• Practise typing Chinese with a pinyin keyboard before the test. Writing answers are typed.
• Some questions have a draft area on screen. You can’t bring your own paper.
• The timer is automatic. When a section ends, the test moves on.
• Try CTI’s online demo to see the screens beforehand.

Speaking test

You wear headphones throughout and speak into a microphone. Speak clearly and keep going until the time ends; silence earns nothing. You cannot leave the room during the speaking test without losing your result. See how to prepare for the speaking test.

The night before

• Print the ticket and put it with your ID.
• Check the address and how long it takes to get there.
• Pack pencils and an eraser for a paper test.
• Sleep. A light review of key words helps more than a late-night mock test.