1. General Information

China's Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi , also known as HSK or the Chinese Proficiency Test, is a standardized test designed and developed by the HSK Center of Beijing Language and Culture University to assess the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers including foreigners, overseas Chinese and students from Chinese national minorities. Supervised by the State HSK Commission under the PRC Ministry of Education, HSK is held regularly in China and other countries each year. Certificates are issued to those who have secured the required scores.

As tests of general language proficiency, HSK is not based on any particular textbook or course of study. Differentiated by levels of difficulty, HSK is divided into three categories with eleven score levels:

• HSK Basic (Levels 1, 2, 3)

• HSK Elementary-Intermediate (Ele. Levels 3, 4, 5; Int. Levels 6, 7, 8)

• HSK Advanced (Levels 9, 10, 11)

These three categories of the test form a comprehensive testing system, ranging from beginning to advanced levels (The highest level in "Basic" overlaps the lowest level in "Elementary-Intermediate"). An HSK Applicant has to decide which of the three categories of the test is applicable to him or her. Commonly, the two factors to be considered are:

1) purpose of taking the test (e.g., for what kind of a certificate), and

2) current competence level:

• The HSK Basic is appropriate for learners who have had 100 to 800 hours of formal education in modern Chinese, master 400 to 3,000 Chinese characters at the A and B levels of HSK Vocabulary , and understand corresponding Chinese grammar structures.
• The HSK Elementary-Intermediate is appropriate for learners who have had 400 to 2,000 hours of formal education in modern Chinese, master 2,000 to 5,000 Chinese characters at the A, B, and C levels of HSK Vocabulary , and understand corresponding Chinese grammar structures.
• The HSK Advanced is appropriate for learners who had 3,000 or more hours of formal education in modern Chinese, master 5,000 or more Chinese characters at A, B, C, and D levels of HSK Vocabulary , and understand corresponding Chinese grammar structures.

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2. HSK Certification

The HSK Certificate serves the following purposes:

1)  To certify that the holder has obtained the required Chinese proficiency to enter a college or university in China as an undergraduate or graduate student. To apply to an undergraduate program in arts (e.g., Chinese literature, history, philosophy and traditional medicine), an " Intermediate Level C " Certificate (representing Language Level 6) is required. To apply to an undergraduate program in any other major, an " Elementary Level C " Certificate or " Basic Level A " Certificate (representing Language Level 3) is required. The language requirement for entering a graduate program is an " Advanced Level C " Certificate (representing Language Level 9). Without meeting the HSK certificate requirement, an applicant will have to take Chinese language courses at the relevant institution first. He or she may enroll in the academic program only when the required HSK certificate has been granted.

2)  To certify that the holder can be exempt from taking certain Chinese courses depending on the level of certification. At UBC, HSK scores can be used to waive foreign language requirements. A minimum passing score, which is irrelevant to HSK certification, is to be set by the Department of Asian Studies to satisfy this specific local demand.

3) To get B.C. high school graduation credits. According to the British Columbia Ministry of Education, a high school student may earn 3 credits for External Language Assessment 11 by passing Level 2 of the HSK, or 6 credits by passing Level 3 of the HSK. For detailed information, please visit http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/graduation/courseinfo/cid.pdf (Page 89-95).

4) To serve as a reference for hiring decisions for positions requiring a certain level of Chinese competency.

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3. HSK Scholarship

The Chinese HSK Authorities have established the HSK Winner Scholarship to financially aid outstanding test-takers to study Chinese language, culture, history and philosophy at a Chinese university for one year. Scholarship recipients enjoy free tuition, free accommodation and free textbooks. They also enjoy the same living allowance standard as what ordinary graduate students would obtain from the Chinese Government Scholarship. However, international-traveling expenses will be their own responsibility.

Qualifications of an HSK Winner Scholarship applicant are as follows:

a) non-Chinese citizen; b) native language not being Chinese; c) age below 45,

d) having earned HSK certificate.

According to a list of candidates prepared by the State HSK Commission, the Secretariat of the State Commission of Study Abroad Foundation will provide candidates with an application form through a nearby Chinese embassy or consulate. Candidates should send the completed form along with other required documents directly to the Secretariat of the State Commission of Study Abroad Foundation by May 15. An approved candidate will be sent a JW201 Visa Application as well as the admission notice from a Chinese university by the end of June. For more information about HSK scholarship, please visit http://www.hanban.edu.cn/ExpressLayer/HSK/MainFrameset.htm

The contact address is:

Secretariat
State Commission of Study Abroad Foundation
No. 37 Xidan Damucang Hutong
Beijing, P.R. China
100816
Fax: 86-10-66018223
Tel: 86-10-66018223, 86-10-66096937

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4. HSK Registration

To register, an applicant needs to go through the following procedures:

Step 1: Fill out on-line registration form

Step 2: Fee payment and Test Admission Card pick up (2 options as follows)

 Option A: In person : Place and Time will be posted on Test Registration site in mid-September each year.

 Option B: By mail (not recommended but acceptable):

 Mail to HSK CENTER, 403--1871 West Mall, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z2

Note 1:No cash or personal check by mail please; Only money order and certified check payable to “HSK Center, UBC” are acceptable.

Note 2: Applicants who registrister by mail are required to arrive 30 min prior to HSK Test in order to get their Test Permits.

* Documents to bring (in person) or mail :
1. Completed registration form (printable from on-line registration site)
2. Registration fee [cash (in person only), money order or certified check]
3. Two passport-size photos (30x40mm) without head wear taken in the past 12 months. The back side of the photos should carry the applicant's name in pencil. (If you have submitted a digital photo online, you don't need to bring photos in person.)


NOTE that all examinees are required to present a photo ID and Test Admission Card before entrance to HSK Test on the test date.

HSK Fees:

HSK rates vary from country to country outside China. The UBC HSK Site is non-profit. All fees, except for the part going to the Chinese HSK authorities, are for cost recovery.

At the UBC HSK Site, the test booklet, the answer sheet and the key will have to be returned after use before the test-taker leaves the room. 

We will send an email in five business days to confirm your registration after we receive your application. If you do not receive any confirmation five days after the registration deadline, you should contact UBC HSK Center immediately by emailing hskubc@interchange.ubc.ca. Late applications or registration by telephone will not be accepted.

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5. Preparations for HSK

The test aims at measuring the examinees' general competence in Chinese, so HSK is not based on any particular text book or Chinese course. Examinees may refer to any textbook in preparing for the test. HSK test instructions are given exclusively in Chinese.

A Test-Taker's Guide and a brochure describing the requirements and format of HSK Basic, HSK Elementary-Intermediate and HSK Advanced can only be picked up at our office. We thus encourage you to download our sample tests for evaluation purposes.

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6. Taking the Test

1)  Both the Test Admission Card and a picture ID are required for admission to the testing room.

2)  A test-taker should have nothing on the desk but the test booklet, answer sheet, pencils, and erasers. Use of tape-recorders, cameras, dictionaries, notebooks, textbooks or papers of any kind is prohibited.

3)  Test-takers who are late for less than five minutes (counted from the start of the part of listening comprehension) can enter the testing room right away. Those who are late for five to thirty-five minutes may enter the testing room when the first part (Listening Comprehension) is finished, with NO make-up for the missed part. Those who are late for over thirty-five minutes automatically lose the opportunity to take the test, with NO make-up whatsoever.

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7. Certificates and Score Reports

Certificates and score reports will be sent to the testing site by HSK Center in Beijing within 60 days after the test is administered. As soon as the UBC HSK Center receives the result from Beijing, an announcement will be made on our web page, designated times will be scheduled for test-takers to pick up their certificates and score reports. If there is any time conflict for the test-takers to come at those times, they should contact the Test Center to make an appointment for picking up within 60 days of the first pick-up time. UBC HSK Center will not be responsible for keeping them thereafter.

An HSK certificate has permanent validity, whereas the validity of a score report, as a certification for a foreign student to enter a college or university in China, lasts two years from the date when the test is administered.

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8. Important Note

HSK Information on this page is prepared by UBC HSK Center with reference to the U-Mich and NYU  HSK Sites and original HSK materials published by the HSK authorities. Adaptations have been made to suit the local situations. The ultimate rights of interpretations of HSK policies remain with the Office of PRC HSK State Commission at the following address:

HSK Office
15 Xueyuan Road
Haidian District, Beijing
P. R. China 100083
Fax: 86-10-62311093, 86-10-62311037
Tel: 86-10-62317150, 86-10-62317531 x 2685 or 2672

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