HSK against TOCFL: which Chinese exam to take
Two exams certify Mandarin for foreigners: the HSK from mainland China and the TOCFL from Taiwan. They test the same language, so the choice is rarely about difficulty. It is about which script you read, which institution is going to look at the certificate, and which one runs in your city.
The two exams side by side
| HSK | TOCFL | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | The mainland Chinese testing network (chinesetest.cn) | The Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, Taiwan |
| Script | Simplified characters | Traditional, with a simplified version available |
| Structure | Six levels, sat one at a time | Three bands (A, B, C); each exam places you at one of two levels inside its band |
| Built against | Its own vocabulary lists | The CEFR, from the start |
| Speaking | Separate exam: the HSKK, three levels | Separate exam: the TOCFL speaking test |
| Pass | 60% of the paper for the level you sat | Your score places you at a level; there is no single pass mark to clear |
How the levels line up
| CEFR | HSK | TOCFL | TOCFL vocabulary |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | HSK 1 | Band A level 1 入門 | ~500 words |
| A2 | HSK 2–3 | Band A level 2 基礎 | ~1,000 words |
| B1 | HSK 4 | Band B level 3 進階 | ~2,500 words |
| B2 | HSK 5 | Band B level 4 高階 | ~5,000 words |
| C1 | HSK 6 | Band C level 5 流利 | ~8,000 words |
| C2 | HSK 7–9 | Band C level 6 精通 | 8,000+ words |
This table is an alignment, not an equivalence, and the vocabulary column shows why: TOCFL Band B level 4 lists twice the words of the HSK level usually printed beside it. The official HSK alignment also claims a higher CEFR position than most teachers accept — HSK against CEFR gives both readings.
How to choose
- An institution has already decided. If a university, scholarship or employer named an exam, sit that exam. Chinese government scholarships want HSK; Taiwanese universities and the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship want TOCFL.
- You are going somewhere. Study the script of that place. Mainland China, Singapore and most textbooks use simplified; Taiwan and Hong Kong use traditional.
- Nobody has decided. Take the HSK. It runs in more cities, more employers recognize the name, and more study material is built around its lists.
Script is not a fork in the road. Both scripts encode the same words and the same grammar, and the difference is a few hundred character shapes plus a handful of habits. GraphChinese teaches every character in both simplified and traditional, everywhere, from one setting — so a learner who switches countries switches a toggle, not a curriculum.
What both exams miss
Neither listening-and-reading paper asks you to say anything. Both sell the speaking exam separately, and both are passed every year by people who have never held a conversation. If your goal is talking to people rather than a line on an application, train speaking on its own schedule from the beginning — the comment and question method is how to do that in your first weeks, and how to have a conversation in Chinese is the practical version.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HSK and TOCFL?
The HSK is the mainland Chinese proficiency exam, written in simplified characters and organized around its own vocabulary lists. The TOCFL is Taiwan's, designed against the CEFR from the start and normally sat in traditional characters. Both test listening and reading; each has a separate spoken and written exam alongside.
Which is harder, HSK or TOCFL?
At comparable bands the TOCFL asks for more vocabulary — its Band B levels list 2,500 and 5,000 words against HSK 4's 1,200 and HSK 5's 2,500 — and it is graded against CEFR descriptors. Learners who have sat both usually report TOCFL Band B as harder than the HSK level nominally beside it.
Can you take the TOCFL in simplified characters?
Yes. The listening and reading papers are offered with a simplified-character version, so a learner trained on simplified script can sit the exam. Taiwan itself writes in traditional characters, so if the exam is for study or work in Taiwan, learning to read traditional is the point rather than an obstacle.
Which exam do scholarships want?
Follow the money. Chinese government and Confucius Institute scholarships want the HSK; the Taiwan Huayu Enrichment Scholarship and Taiwanese universities want the TOCFL. Neither institution accepts the other exam as a substitute in most cases.
Should you learn simplified or traditional characters?
Learn the script of the place you are going to. If you have no such place yet, simplified reaches more speakers and more material, and traditional is easier to pick up afterwards than the reverse — the traditional form usually contains the simplified one's logic rather than the other way round.
One course, both scripts. Every character in GraphChinese ships in simplified and traditional with stroke-order writing for each, so the exam you end up sitting is a decision you can make late. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
Start at your true level