How to register for the HSK
Registering for the HSK takes about twenty minutes online and one decision that matters more than the rest: which level you sit. Everything else — the account, the photo, the fee, the admission ticket — is administration. This page walks the whole process, then covers the two things that actually go wrong on the day.
Register in six steps
- Create an account on the official HSK registration site, chinesetest.cn. Use the name exactly as it appears on the ID you will bring.
- Upload a photo that meets the passport-style rules the site states. A rejected photo is the most common reason a registration sits unconfirmed.
- Choose the test format. Paper or computer-based, and, where it is offered, home-based online. Pick the one you practiced for; the writing section is handwriting on paper and pinyin typing on a computer.
- Choose a center, a date, and a level. Dates for a given level are limited in most cities, so check the calendar before you set your study deadline rather than after.
- Pay online and confirm that your registration status changes to paid. An unpaid registration is not a seat.
- Print the admission ticket (准考证) when it is released, commonly about a week before the test. It carries your test room, your candidate number, and the date your results will be published.
If your city has an HSK center attached to a university or a Confucius Institute, look at its own page as well as the national site. Centers publish their own fee, their own room rules, and sometimes dates that fill quietly.
What the exam costs
The fee is set by the test center, not centrally, and rises with the level. In practice that means the same level can cost noticeably different amounts in two cities in the same country, and the HSKK speaking exam is charged separately from the HSK. Two rules hold everywhere: the fee is paid at registration, and it is not refunded if you do not show up.
Check the published fee for your center before you commit. Any number printed on a third-party page — including this one, which is why there is no number here — goes stale without anyone noticing.
Which level to register for
Register for the level you can already pass. The HSK reports one number against a 60% bar, so the exam rewards sitting slightly below your ceiling and punishes optimism at full price.
A practical test: take a full past paper for the level under exam conditions, four weeks before the registration deadline. If you clear the pass mark with 15 points to spare, register for that level. If you scrape it, register anyway but treat the four weeks as targeted repair. If you miss it, register for the level below and sit the higher one on the next date.
In GraphChinese: the free adaptive placement answers the same question in about ten minutes, and answers it more precisely than a practice paper does — it reports the individual topics under your target level that are not yet solid, rather than a score that hides which 40% you missed. How to prepare for a level covers what to do with that list.
Test day
- Bring the admission ticket and the ID you registered with. Nothing else is required and most centers allow nothing else on the desk. The name and number on the ID must match the registration.
- Arrive early. Centers commonly close the room 20 to 30 minutes before the start for seating and identity checks, and a late arrival is refused rather than accommodated.
- Bring a pencil and an eraser for the paper test, because you mark an optical answer sheet. Many centers supply them and some do not.
- Transfer answers as you go. The listening section gives you a few minutes at the end to copy answers onto the sheet, and that is the only protected time you get. In reading and writing, mark the sheet as you work.
- Phones go away entirely. A phone that makes a sound in the room can void the paper.
After the exam
Results are published online on the date printed on your admission ticket — commonly about two weeks after a computer-based test and about a month after a paper test. You look them up with your candidate number and your name. Score reports are treated as valid for two years by most institutions, so line the test date up with the application it is for. HSK passing scores and grading covers what the numbers mean and what happens if you fail.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you register for the HSK?
On the official HSK website run by the Chinese Testing International network at chinesetest.cn. You create an account, upload a photo, pick a test center, a date and a level, and pay online. Some test centers also accept registration in person or by email, and a few charge a different fee for that.
How much does the HSK cost?
The fee is set locally by the test center and rises with the level, so it varies widely by country — roughly the price of a textbook at HSK 1 and several times that at HSK 6. Check the fee published by the center you intend to sit at before you register, because it is not the same everywhere in the same city.
When is the HSK registration deadline?
Commonly about a month before a paper test and about two weeks before a computer-based test. Popular centers fill before the deadline, so treat the published date as the last possible moment rather than the plan.
Do you need a passport to sit the HSK?
You need the identity document you registered with, and its number must match your registration exactly. For most international candidates that is a passport. A mismatch between the name or number on your ID and your registration can cost you the seat, so check both before the deadline.
Can you take the HSK online at home?
Home-based online testing exists at some centers and in some countries, with camera and environment requirements. Availability changes, so the honest answer is to check what your nearest center currently offers rather than to assume.
Which level should you register for?
The one you can already pass comfortably in practice tests, not the one you hope to reach by the test date. The exam only reports whether you cleared 60% on the paper you sat, so a comfortable HSK 4 is worth more than a failed HSK 5 and costs less.
Register for the level you can already pass. The free adaptive placement tests you down to the topic in about ten minutes and names what is missing under your target level. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
Start at your true level