The New HSK Exam System 😲 (Now Launched in March 2022)

Q: When was the New HSK announced?

May 21st 2020 on the Official HSK Twitter account.

Q: What are the main differences between the old and the new HSK?

The two main differences are as follows: The old/current HSK has 6 levels and the new HSK has 9. The old/current HSK tests up to 5,000 words, whereas the new HSK requires you to know over 11,000

Q: Will the HSK Exams change in 2022?

There will be no changes to the HSK Exams in 2022. In fact, new versions of HSK Exams for 1-6 will most likely be released in 2023-24 and the rollout is expected to take a couple of years so the process remains a lengthy one. However, the HSK 7-9 examinations will be officially launched in March 2022.

Q: When will the NEW HSK officially be launched?

It has been revealed that the New HSK will now launch in March 2022.

Q: How is the New HSK broken down exactly?

The New HSK consists of these four elements : Syllables - 1,110 in total Chinese characters - 3,000 in total Vocabulary - Total is 11,092 Grammar - Total of 572 items

Learn Chinese by LTL Team HQ April 1, 2021

New HSK Exam // The Only Guide You Need (Including Full New HSK Word List)

WHAT? There’s a new HSK Exam?

You are probably a tad confused by the title of this blog, so let us rephrase.

THE CURRENT HSK EXAM SYSTEM IS GOING TO CHANGE but the time of the change has been confusing many of you (us included)!
The New HSK will now launch its new HSK 7, 8 and 9 levels and exams in March 2022. If you plan to take the HSK soon, please continue to read and check the changes for 2022.

I’m sure there are a lot questions on your lips… will I have to take the test again, is my current qualification still valid…?

It’s the facts we’ll be covering here in this one-stop article. Feel free to check back as we’ll be constantly updating this throughout 2022.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Want to take our brand New 50 Question HSK 7-9 Quiz? 🙋🏽‍♀️

To make sure you are the first to receive the news, be sure to be signed up to our newsletter:

New HSK | Introduction to HSK
New HSK | What Do We Know So Far?
New HSK | Overseas HSK & HSKK 2022 Updates
New HSK | Why the Change?
New HSK | What Does This Mean For You?
FREE DOWNLOAD | Full New HSK Word List
FREE HSK VOCAB TESTS | Take Yours Here
Passing the HSK | Two BIG Success Stories
New HSK | Tips
New HSK | Your FAQ’s Answered
FREE BONUS | Take Our NEW HSK Quiz

Play

NEW HSK – Introduction to the HSK

HSK or Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (汉语水平考试) came about in 1992 as a proficiency exam for Mandarin Chinese.

The exams are organised by Hanban (汉办). Hanban are a part of the Chinese education ministry, who are also in charge of the Confucius Institutes (孔子学院).

HSK is originally split into 6 levels covering 150 to 5000 words.

All the exams contain listening, reading and writing components – with HSK 1 and 2 not requiring the writing element.

We still do not know what the actual situation will be, but we do know that the New HSK Exam will contain more words, more levels and it will be no doubt harder – as the following below will illustrate.

PS – You can find the official HSK website here.

NEW HSK – What Do We Know So Far?

Announced in May 2020, released via the official HSK official Twitter Account, the exam will change from six to nine levels!

In order to mark the examinees’ current progress, the nine levels will be sub-divided into three stages.

For advanced learners to acquire native-level proficiency certifications, the highest classification will be be further divided into three distinct levels.

We also know the New HSK consists of these four elements:

Syllables – 1,110 in total
Chinese characters – 3,000 in total
Vocabulary – Total is 11,092
Grammar – Total of 572 items

Level	Level Number	Details
Advanced	Levels 7, 8 & 9	For levels 7-9 there is no evaluation quota as of yet.
Intermediate	Levels 4, 5 & 6	From levels 1-6, each has a corresponding threshold for the number of syllables, characters, words and grammatical structures the test taker should be able to comprehend and use.
Beginner	Levels 1, 2 & 3	From levels 1-6, each has a corresponding threshold for the number of syllables, characters, words and grammatical structures the test taker should be able to comprehend and use.

However, it is worth knowing the following also:

New versions of HSK Exams for 1-6 will most likely be released in 2023-24 and the rollout is expected to take a couple of years so the process remains a lengthy one.
On the contrary, the HSK 7-9 examinations will be officially launched in March 2022.

Three Stages and Nine Levels 🤔

New HSK Levels

Officially referred to as HSK 3.0, the new HSK exam structure will be divided into three stages and nine levels with:

Beginner at Level 1-3
Intermediate at Level 4-6
Advanced at Level 7-9

According to the Chinese Testing International Centre in Barcelona, the advanced levels (7-9) are for foreign students who want to specialize in Chinese language and literature, and other majors such as Sinology.

The Advanced HSK exam (Level 7-9) is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2021.

Whether it be the lower level or highest grade, you must learn more words so it will certainly be a harder test!

Level	Difficulty	Number Of Words	Difference From Old HSK
HSK 1	Beginner	500	+350
HSK 2	Beginner	1272	+972
HSK 3	Beginner	2245	+1645
HSK 4	Intermediate	3245	+2045
HSK 5	Intermediate	4316	+1816
HSK 6	Intermediate	5456	+456
HSK 7	Advanced	11,092 (TBC)	TBC
HSK 8	Advanced	11,092 (TBC)	TBC
HSK 9	Advanced	11,092 (TBC)	TBC

Here’s a side-by-side look at the Old HSK vs New HSK to give you a clear indication that the NEW HSK will be certainly more difficult.

Level	New HSK	Current HSK
HSK 1	500	150
HSK 2	1,272	300
HSK 3	2,245	600
HSK 4	3,245	1,200
HSK 5	4,316	2,500
HSK 6	5,456	5,000
HSK 7	11,092 (TBC)	–
HSK 8	11,092 (TBC)	–
HSK 9	11,092 (TBC)	–

Words and Vocabulary List 🧠

In a PDF published by the International Chinese Education (世界汉语教学 shìjiè hànyǔ jiàoxué), they further outline the new proficiency standards for all the levels.

New requirements for the HSK levels 1 to 9

The difficulty has certainly increased!

Focusing on the vocabulary column (词汇: cíhuì) a.k.a. the fifth column, we can see that just for level 1 the threshold has increased.

Instead of previously needing to learn 150 words for HSK 1, this has now increased to 500.

Play

For HSK 6, students will now be required to learn 5,456 words and for HSK 9 students will be expected to know over 11,000 words!

Therefore, by increasing the threshold students will be pushed harder to learn more words.

You can find a full downloadable wordlist for the New HSK here.

Overseas HSK & HSKK 2022 Updates

Starting from next year, 2022, all overseas HSK3 to HSK6 test takers are required to take both HSK and HSK Oral Test.

The written and spoken part will come as a combo package. This change will only affect all overseas HSK testing sites. Testing sites in China will not be affected.

Starting from January 2022, HSK5 and HSK6 candidates must take the Advanced level Speaking test:

HSK 5 + 高级 | Advanced oral test
HSK 6 + 高级 | Advanced oral test

Starting from March 2022, HSK4 candidates must take the Intermediate level Speaking test, and HSK3 candidates must take the Beginner level Speaking test.

HSK 3 + 初级 | Primary oral test
HSK 4 + 中级 | Intermediate oral test

HSK Written and Speaking test result reports will be issued together.

On the first half of 2022, four examination dates were added:

February 27 2022
March 12 2022
April 23 2022
June 25 2022

The aim is to provide Online Chinese Tests (Home Edition) services for foreign countries. The home online test needs to take HSK written test and oral test at the same time.

From January 1, 2022, the home online examination service fee will be adjusted as follows:

(1) The service fees for HSK written and oral tests, YCT, BCT and other home tests will be increased by 30% based on the service fees for local conventional Chinese tests;

(2) Preferential treatment will be given to the test sites where HSK written test level 3-6 and oral test are combined to implement home online test: the service fee for the combined level test will be implemented according to the original written test + oral test service fee, and will not rise.

Test category (online test at home)	Test date (2022)	Registration deadline
HSK	February 27	February 13
HSK Oral Test (HSKK)	March 12	February 26
YCT	April 23	April 9
BCT	June 25	June 11

NEW HSK – Why the Change?

There is no definite answer to this question.

But here’s some possible reasons:

To make the exam harder
- As more people are studying the language, the old classification could no longer meet the requirements of the new situation.
- This new classification is more precise and further categorizes students language ability.
To align with the European Framework
- One major problem with the current HSK test is it does not directly correspond to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CETR)
- For example, HSK 6 was nowhere near the “almost-native” C2 level and so on.
- Thus, by adjusting the test to better reflect the CEFR system this should help give the HSK improved weighting and caliber on the international stage.

Will there be a new HSKK exam?

There has been an announcement regarding new measures for the HSKK:

“Starting from next year, 2022, all overseas HSK3 to HSK6 test takers are required to take both HSK and HSK Oral Test.” More details here.

HSKK is the spoken version of the HSK.

You can find out more about the differences between the HSK and the HSKK here.

NEW HSK – What Does This Mean For You?

There has been no word so far on what this means for graduation requirements for international students in China.

HSK did however confirm the following: “The scores of candidates participating in HSK 1-6 levels are still valid, and the validity of the certificates already obtained remains unchanged”

Regarding text books HSK went on to say:

“The textbooks and courses compiled and developed according to HSK 1-6 levels can still be used. In the next 3-5 years, HSK 1-6 levels will be gradually adjusted according to the “Standards” and the actual conditions of Chinese learners in various countries.”

With the exam system changing, it is hard to go into details what this exactly means for you.

Previously, a level between HSK 4-6 was sufficient for students who wanted to pursue graduate or higher-level degree in Chinese.

As soon as more details are announced, we will update you.

If you have any more questions feel free to comment down below and we will try our best to answer them.

Play

Discover HSK Online – an app to help you pass the HSK

FREE DOWNLOAD – Full New HSK Word List

In keeping with the news above, the Ministry of Education in China have released this rather large (260 pages to be precise) PDF which is the full word list for each level of the HSK.

Whilst the wordlist shows all the words included in the new HSK curriculum, it still doesn’t show the breakdown from HSK 7 onwards.

These details will be released nearer the time presumably, but for now, here is the full document if you wish to download it.

PLEASE NOTE – it is a rather large file so may take some time to download, unless you have particularly fast internet!

DOWNLOAD THE NEW HSK WORDLIST HERE

FREE HSK VOCAB TESTS – Take Yours Here

As of right now, the HSK remains 6 levels and that means you can test yourself right here with our super handy quizzes.

We have two quizzes for every HSK level:

Quick Fire 30 Questions – we randomly select 30 words from each HSK level to see how well you know your vocabulary.
Full Vocab Tests – fancy buckling up and going all out? Our full vocabulary quizzes cover more words and will give you a clearer idea of how well you know your HSK level. (up to 500 words for the highest level HSK 6).

Results are instant and also sent to your email address, also showing where you slipped up!

TAKE YOUR FREE HSK VOCAB TEST HERE

PASSING THE HSK – Two BIG Success Stories

We take huge pride in our student pass rate of 95%. It not only shows our teachers are the best in the business but that all our students are so driven to succeed.

Motivation is a big part of language learning and we wanted to share two stories of students who boast this in abundance.

Language learning isn’t a talent, it’s a will to win.

Anthea and Emma, from France and Germany respectively, gave their all in their year with LTl and came out with HSK 6 certificates!

Here is an insight into their stories.

Anthea came to China for 12 months with zero knowledge and a year later, went home to Germany with a HSK 6 certificate!
Emma had planned to study with LTL in Chengde but sadly that all changed in 2020. Rather than put her plan to bed, she knuckled down for 12 months of online study and came away with an amazing HSK 6 pass!

Play

Who knows, maybe they’ll go a step further and go full steam ahead for the HSK 7, 8 and 9!

NEW HSK – Tips

Our top tip to you is not to worry!

The new exam system is good for beginners and definitely a challenge for any advanced learner.

Although your current level will be most likely downgraded due to this new system, the good thing is that you can still aim for HSK 6.

Unless you intend to specialize in Sinology or otherwise, this level is probably enough to get you where you want to be!

https://soundcloud.com/user-671730457-254957997/new-hsk

Fancy listening instead? Check out our Podcast with Katie & Max

FUN FACT – Did you know LTL students have a 95% pass rate when taking the HSK Exam. We genuinely know how to get you passing with flying colours.

If you want to take the perfect preparation course for your HSK Exam, drop us a message.

We offer HSK classes both online and offline.

New HSK – FAQ’s

When was the New HSK announced?

May 21st 2020 on the Official HSK Twitter account.

What are the main differences between the old and the new HSK?

The two main differences are as follows:

The old/current HSK has 6 levels and the new HSK has 9.

The old/current HSK tests up to 5,000 words, whereas the new HSK requires you to know over 11,000

Will the HSK Exams change in 2022?

There will be no changes to the HSK Exams in 2022.

In fact, new versions of HSK Exams for 1-6 will most likely be released in 2023-24 and the rollout is expected to take a couple of years so the process remains a lengthy one.

However, the HSK 7-9 examinations will be officially launched in March 2022.

Will the HSK textbooks change in 2021?

The textbooks will change, but not for another 3-5 years yet.

HSK confirmed this with the following statement:

“The textbooks and courses compiled and developed according to HSK 1-6 levels can still be used. In the next 3-5 years, HSK 1-6 levels will be gradually adjusted according to the “Standards” and the actual conditions of Chinese learners in various countries.”

Will there be a new HSKK exam?

There has been an announcement regarding new measures for the HSKK:

“Starting from next year, 2022, all overseas HSK3 to HSK6 test takers are required to take both HSK and HSK Oral Test.” More details here.

HSKK is the spoken version of the HSK.

You can find out more about the differences between the HSK and the HSKK here.

Will my current HSK Exam results remain valid?

Yes and we have a direct quote from HSK to also back this up, which states:

“The currently implemented HSK 1-6 levels will not be adjusted in the near future, and the test effectiveness, test content, reference vocabulary and test format will remain unchanged and will continue to be implemented stably. The scores of candidates participating in HSK 1-6 levels are still valid, and the validity of the certificates already obtained remains unchanged. “

Therefore there is no need to worry if you need these to apply for a Chinese university or job for example.

When will the NEW HSK officially be launched?

It has been revealed that the New HSK will now launch in March 2022.

How many words to pass the highest (new) HSK level?

The highest level of HSK you can pass with the new system is HSK 9 and this requires knowing a huge 11,092 words, more than double the current highest level (HSK6).

How is the New HSK broken down exactly?

The New HSK consists of these four elements:

Syllables – 1,110 in total

Chinese characters – 3,000 in total

Vocabulary – Total is 11,092

Grammar – Total of 572 items

Will I have to buy new HSK textbooks?

Not for the near future.

HSK stated the current textbooks will remain in place for another 3-5 years.

How can I improve my Chinese while waiting for further announcements?

We would you recommend you do this while you wait!

Check out our online immersion and free HSK quizzes to expand your Chinese.

Also be sure to check our blogs on how to self-learn Chinese or you could always book classes with LTL.

How do you say HSK in Chinese?

汉语水平考试 (hànyǔ shuǐpíng kǎoshì)

Will I be notified if further news on this is announced?

Of course.

Keep checking this blog for further updates on the New HSK and subscribe to our newsletter.

BONUS | NEW HSK QUIZ

Want more from LTL?

If you wish to hear more from LTL Mandarin School why not join our mailing list.

We give plenty of handy information on learning Chinese, useful apps to learn the language and everything going on at our LTL schools!

Sign up below and become part of our ever growing community!

PS – DID YOU KNOW you can study the HSK with us online here!

Written by

LTL Team HQ

Our LTL Team's are based in Beijing (HQ), Shanghai, Taiwan, Beihai, Chengdu, Xi'an, Singapore and Chengde! A mix of Chinese and foreign staff, we now boast over 50 staff members!