HSK levels
Six independent written papers, plus one combined advanced exam. Pick the hub that matches the sitting on your ticket — not the blog post you read last year.
| Level | Stage | 2.0 vocab | 3.0 entries | Classic paper | Pass (2.0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | Elementary | 150 | 300 | 40 min | 120 / 200 |
| HSK 2 | Elementary | 300 | 500 | 55 min | 120 / 200 |
| HSK 3 | Elementary | 600 | 1,000 | 90 min | 180 / 300 |
| HSK 4 | Intermediate | 1,200 | 2,000 | 105 min | 180 / 300 |
| HSK 5 | Intermediate | 2,500 | 3,600 | 125 min | 180 / 300 |
| HSK 6 | Intermediate | 5,000 | 5,400 | 140 min | 180 / 300 |
| HSK 7–9 | Advanced | — | 11,000 | 210 min | Ability score |
Elementary
HSK 1
Handle the most common greetings, introduce yourself, recognize numbers and dates, and understand very short, slow classroom-style sentences about daily life.
Elementary
HSK 2
Talk about routine plans, shopping, simple travel, and basic work or school situations. Understand short dialogues spoken clearly, and read brief notices or messages.
Elementary
HSK 3
Handle familiar daily, study, and travel situations in simple connected language. Read short practical texts. Write very basic sentences — word order and completing phrases — on the 2.0 paper.
Intermediate
HSK 4
Discuss a range of familiar social, study, and work topics in some detail. Follow longer listening passages. Read short articles and write connected sentences from prompts.
Intermediate
HSK 5
Read newspapers and general-interest articles with a dictionary nearby. Follow extended talk on familiar public topics. Write short structured essays on the classic paper.
Intermediate
HSK 6
Follow long spoken passages and written arguments on a wide range of topics. Understand most general media with effort. Condense a passage into a shorter written text on the 2.0 paper.
Advanced
HSK 7–9
Operate in complex academic, professional, and formal cultural settings. The syllabus also expects translation and interpretation skills that the classic HSK 1–6 papers do not.