HSK Exam 2020 Guide
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What is HSK?
HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) or the Chinese Proficiency Test is an international standardized exam that tests and rates Chinese language proficiency. It assesses non-native Chinese speakers’ abilities in using the Chinese language in their daily, academic, and professional lives. HSK test was developed in 1984 and the first HSK test was held overseas in 1991. (Read More: MBBS in China)
HSK Test Levels
HSK (Level I)
Designed for learners who can understand and use some simple Chinese characters and sentences to communicate, and prepares them for continuing their Chinese studies.
HSK (Level I) test is made up of listening comprehension and reading comprehension sections and contains a total of 40 items.
| Section | Number of Items | Duration (Min) | ||
| I. Listening | Part I | 5 | 20 | About 15 |
| Part II | 5 | |||
| Part III | 5 | |||
| Part IV | 5 | |||
| Filling out the answer sheet (Mark your answers for listening comprehension on Answer Sheet) | 3 | |||
| II. Reading | Part I | 5 | 20 | 17 |
| Part II | 5 | |||
| Part III | 5 | |||
| Part IV | 5 | |||
| Total | / | 40 | About 35 | |
Results Certificate
For the HSK (Level I), three results will be provided including listening, reading, and total. The test taker must score at least 120 points total to be considered passing.
| Max Score | Your Score | |
| Listening | 100 | |
| Reading | 100 | |
| Total | 200 |
Past papers of HSK 1
H11329
- H11329- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H11329- Listening File (.wav)
- H11329- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H11330
- H11330 – Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H11330- Listening File (.wav)
- H11330- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H11331
- H11331- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H11331- Listening File (.wav)
- H11331- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H11332
- H11332- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H11332- Listening File (.wav)
- H11332- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H11334
- H11334- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H11334- Listening File (.wav)
- H11334- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
HSK (Level II)
Designed for learners who can use Chinese in a simple and direct manner, applying it in a basic fashion to their daily lives.
The HSK (Level II) test is made up of listening comprehension and reading comprehension sections and contains a total of 60 items.
| Section | Number of Items | Duration (Min) | ||
| I. Listening | Part I | 10 | 35 | About 25 |
| Part II | 10 | |||
| Part III | 10 | |||
| Part IV | 5 | |||
| Filling out the answer sheet (Mark your answers for listening comprehension on Answer Sheet) | 3 | |||
| II. Reading | Part I | 5 | 25 | 22 |
| Part II | 5 | |||
| Part III | 5 | |||
| Part IV | 10 | |||
| Total | / | 60 | About 50 | |
Results Certificate
For the HSK (Level II), three results will be provided including listening, reading, and total. The test taker must score at least 120 points total to be considered passing.
| Max Score | Your Score | |
| Listening | 100 | |
| Reading | 100 | |
| Total | 200 |
Past papers of HSK 2
All of the real 2013 HSK 2 past papers to practice with:
H21329
- H21329- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H21329- Listening File (.wav)
- H21329- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H21330
- H21330 – Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H21330- Listening File (.wav)
- H21330- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H21331
- H21331- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H21331- Listening File (.mp3)
- H21331- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H21332
- H21332- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H21332- Listening File (.mp3)
- H21332- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H21334
- H21334- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H21334- Listening File (.mp3)
- H21334- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
HSK (Level III)
Designed for learners who can use Chinese to serve the demands of their personal lives, studies, and work, and are capable of completing most of the communicative tasks they experience during their Chinese tour.
The HSK (Level III) test is made up of listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing sections and contains a total of 80 items.
| Section | Number of Items | Duration (Min) | ||
| I. Listening | Part I | 10 | 40 | About 35 |
| Part II | 10 | |||
| Part III | 10 | |||
| Part IV | 10 | |||
| Filling out the answer sheet (Mark your answers for listening comprehension on Answer Sheet) | 5 | |||
| II. Reading | Part I | 10 | 30 | 30 |
| Part II | 10 | |||
| Part III | 10 | |||
| III. Writing | Part I | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Part II | 5 | |||
| Total | / | 80 | About 85 | |
Results Certificate
For the HSK (Level III), four results will be provided including listening, reading, writing, and the total. The test taker must score at least 180 points to be considered passing.
| Max Score | Your Score | |
| Listening | 100 | |
| Reading | 100 | |
| Writing | 100 | |
| Total | 300 |
Past papers of HSK 3
H31327
- H31327- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H31327- Listening File (.wav)
- H31327- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H31328
- H31328 – Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H31328- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H31329
- H31329- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H31329- Listening File (.mp3)
- H31329- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H31330
- H31330- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H31330- Listening File (.mp3)
- H31330- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H31332
- H31332- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H31332- Listening File (.mp3)
- H31332- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
HSK (Level IV)
Designed for learners who can discuss a relatively wide range of topics in Chinese and are capable of communicating with Chinese speakers at a high standard.
The HSK (Level IV) test is made up of listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing and contains a total of 100 test items.
| Section | Number of Items | Duration (Min) | ||
| I. Listening | Part I | 10 | 45 | About 30 |
| Part II | 15 | |||
| Part III | 20 | |||
| Filling out the answer sheet (Mark your answers for listening comprehension on Answer Sheet) | 5 | |||
| II. Reading | Part I | 10 | 40 | 40 |
| Part II | 10 | |||
| Part III | 20 | |||
| III. Writing | Part I | 10 | 15 | 25 |
| Part II | 5 | |||
| Total | / | 100 | About 100 | |
Results Certificate
For the HSK (Level IV), four results will be provided including listening, reading, writing, and the total. The test taker must score at least 180 points to be considered passing.
| Max Score | Your Score | |
| Listening | 100 | |
| Reading | 100 | |
| Writing | 100 | |
| Total | 300 |
Past papers of HSK 4
H41327
- H41327- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H41327- Listening File (.wav)
- H41327- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H41328
- H41328 – Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H41328- Listening File (.wav)
- H41328- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H41329
- H41329- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H41329- Listening File (.mp3)
- H41329- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H41330
- H41330- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H41330- Listening File (.mp3)
- H41330- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
H41332
- H41332- Exam Paper (.pdf)
- H41332- Listening File (.mp3)
- H41332- Answer Sheet (.pdf)
HSK Past papers Source: https://www.confuciusinstitute.manchester.ac.uk/study/testing/hsk/hsk-learning-resources/
