The new HSK, explained
The HSK is moving from six levels to nine, and the questions people are asking about it have one honest answer between them: the standard is settled, the exam calendar is not. This page separates what is confirmed from what is still in transition, and gives you the one check that tells you which paper you will actually sit.
What changed
- Nine levels in three stages. Elementary is levels 1–3, intermediate 4–6, advanced 7–9. The old six levels do not disappear; three more sit above them.
- New vocabulary at every level. Roughly 300 / 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 / 3,600 / 5,400 cumulative words for levels 1–6, and about 11,000 across all nine.
- Speaking becomes mandatory from level 3. Under HSK 2.0 the HSKK was a separate optional exam. Under the new framework the spoken component is registered and sat alongside the written paper from level 3 upward.
- Characters are specified in two lists. The syllabus separates the characters you must recognize from the smaller set you must be able to write, rather than leaving handwriting implicit.
- Fewer questions at levels 3–6, with a writing section appearing at level 2 and the papers running shorter than their HSK 2.0 equivalents.
- Translation at the advanced level. The HSK 7–9 exam scores five skills: listening, reading, writing, translation and speaking.
- Listening sounds more natural. The beginner audio moves from deliberately slow speech toward a natural but unhurried pace.
The timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2021 | China publishes the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards — three stages, nine levels, about 11,000 words. A framework, not an exam. |
| 2022 | The combined HSK 7–9 exam launches on the new standard. It has run that way ever since. |
| November 2025 | The finalized exam syllabus is published — the document that turns the framework into papers, with the word, character, grammar and task lists per level. |
| 31 January 2026 | A global pilot of the new levels 1–6, sat in more than 160 countries, with speaking paired to the written exam from level 3. Results published in March. |
| July 2026 | The standard takes effect. Levels 1–6 begin the switch, and in practice both formats have continued to run side by side at different centers. |
Which exam will you actually sit?
This is the question every other article answers badly, because the answer is not a date.
Prepare for the format printed on your own booking, not for a date quoted in an article. HSK 7–9 is unambiguous: it runs on the new standard and always has. Levels 1–6 depend on the test center and the sitting — some centers moved with the July switch, others have continued to administer the old paper. When you register on the official test site, the exam you are booking is named there, and your admission ticket is the authority.
Two practical consequences. If your booking says HSK 3.0, register the speaking component with it from level 3 upward. If it says the old format, use the HSK 2.0 format guide and treat the new vocabulary as extra credit rather than as the syllabus.
Why you keep seeing different word counts
Because two documents exist and most articles do not say which one they are quoting.
| Level | HSK 2.0 (the old exam) | 2021 standard | 2025 exam syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 150 | 500 | ~300 |
| 2 | 300 | 1,272 | ~500 |
| 3 | 600 | 2,245 | ~1,000 |
| 4 | 1,200 | 3,245 | ~2,000 |
| 5 | 2,500 | 4,316 | ~3,600 |
| 6 | 5,000 | ~5,456 | ~5,400 |
| 7–9 | — | ~11,092 | ~11,000 |
All figures are cumulative. The 2021 standard set steep beginner levels; the 2025 syllabus brought levels 1 to 5 back down after feedback that the early tiers were too demanding, while keeping the top of the ladder roughly where the standard put it. An article quoting 2,245 words for level 3 is not wrong — it is quoting the framework rather than the exam.
The new paper, level by level
The structure published with the sample papers, for the new levels 1–6:
| Level | Listening | Reading | Writing | Total | Length | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | 20 | — | ~40 | ~40 min | — |
| 2 | 25 | 25 | 10 | ~60 | ~60 min | — |
| 3 | 30 | 30 | 10 | ~70 | ~83 min | Required |
| 4 | 32 | 32 | 6 | ~70 | ~85 min | Required |
| 5 | 35 | 35 | 2 | ~72 | ~110 min | Required |
| 6 | 40 | 40 | 2 | ~82 | ~125 min | Required |
Compare that with the old paper — 80 questions at HSK 3, 100 at HSK 4 and 5, 101 at HSK 6 — and the direction is clear: fewer items, more skills. Confirm the counts for your sitting against the official syllabus, because these come from the sample material rather than from a paper anyone has sat twice.
The advanced exam is settled and documented: the HSK 7–9 exam is 98 questions in about 210 minutes across five sections, and it reports a band rather than a pass.
What has not changed
- Your certificate. No expiry is being applied to HSK 2.0 results because of the transition. The usual two-year freshness convention that institutions apply is a separate rule and is untouched.
- The language. Tones still come before characters, characters before words, words before patterns. A renumbering of the exam changes which certificate you sit for and nothing about what you have to learn next.
- Where the difficulty is. Reading without pinyin, listening at natural speed, and producing sentences under time pressure decide both exams.
In GraphChinese: the curriculum is a dependency graph of 829 topics rather than a copy of one exam's word list, which is why this transition moves labels here rather than the sequence. The vendored 2021 standard sits in the repository beside the course's own coverage report, and the free adaptive placement drops you at your true frontier whichever numbering your test center uses.
Frequently asked questions
What is the new HSK?
The new HSK, usually called HSK 3.0, is the exam built on the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards published in 2021 and the exam syllabus published in November 2025. It replaces six levels with nine, grouped into three stages: elementary (1–3), intermediate (4–6) and advanced (7–9). It also changes the vocabulary at every level, makes the speaking test mandatory from level 3, and adds a translation section at the advanced level.
When does the new HSK start?
The syllabus was published in November 2025, a global pilot for levels 1–6 ran on 31 January 2026, and the standard takes effect from July 2026. The advanced HSK 7–9 exam has run on the new standard since 2022. Levels 1–6 are in transition: many test centers continued to administer the old format after July, so the date on a calendar does not tell you which paper you will sit.
How many words does the new HSK require?
Under the November 2025 exam syllabus the cumulative totals are roughly 300, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,600 and 5,400 words for levels 1 to 6, and about 11,000 across all nine levels. Those are lower at levels 1–5 than the 2021 standard proposed, which is why you will find two different sets of numbers online — both are real, and they describe two different documents.
Is the HSKK speaking test now mandatory?
Under the new framework the speaking exam is a required component alongside the written exam from level 3 upward, rather than the optional separate test it was under HSK 2.0. Levels 1 and 2 have no speaking component.
Is my old HSK certificate still valid?
Yes. No expiry is being applied to HSK 2.0 certificates because of the transition. Institutions still commonly treat any HSK result as current for about two years from the test date, which is a separate rule and has not changed.
Should I take the old HSK or wait for the new one?
Sit whichever exam your test center is running on the date you need, and prepare for the format printed on your own booking confirmation. A certificate you hold is worth more than a format you are waiting for, and the two exams test the same language.
Is the new HSK harder?
At levels 1 and 2 it asks for roughly twice the vocabulary of HSK 2.0, so yes at the bottom. At level 6 the totals are close to the old exam. The larger change is shape rather than difficulty: fewer questions at levels 3–6, a writing section from level 2, mandatory speaking from level 3, and translation at 7–9.
The numbering changed; the dependencies did not. GraphChinese sequences every topic by what it depends on, from the four tones to HSK 6, so a syllabus revision never resets your plan. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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