HSK 3.0: syllabus and exams
Since July 2026, the official HSK syllabus has been the HSK 3.0 (late 2025 version). HSK 2.0, in force since 2009, has become the former HSK.
The HSK 3.0 syllabus has had two versions. The first was published in April 2021 and was due to come into force 3 to 5 years later. Download link (careful, the file is large, 51 MB): HSK 3.0 syllabus, 2021 version.
A second, very different version was published at the end of 2025: it was officially announced in November 2025 and the reference PDF is dated 19 December 2025. This is the version now in force. Here is the direct link to the PDF: HSK 3.0 syllabus, late 2025 version.
WARNING
There are very large differences between these two versions of HSK 3.0, and between HSK 3.0 and the former HSK (2.0).
HSK 2.0 certificates already obtained remain valid and continue to be recognised by universities and employers.
Below are the tables for the two versions of HSK 3.0 and for the former HSK (2.0):
HSK 3.0 syllabus (late 2025 version) — in force
| Levels | Characters for reading |
Characters for writing |
Words | Grammar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced | 7→9 | 3088 (+1148) | 1200 (+500) | 11000 (+5600) | 585 (+134) |
| Intermediate | 6 | 1940 (+413) | 700 (+150) | 5400 (+1800) | 451 (+50) |
| 5 | 1527 (+431) | 550 (+150) | 3600 (+1600) | 401 (+70) | |
| 4 | 1096 (+441) | 400 (+150) | 2000 (+1000) | 331 (+94) | |
| Beginner | 3 | 655 (+284) | 250 (+150) | 1000 (+500) | 237 (+96) |
| 2 | 371 (+125) | 100 | 500 (+200) | 141 (+75) | |
| 1 | 246 | 300 | 66 | ||
| Total | 3088 | 1200 | 11000 | 585 | |
HSK 3.0 syllabus (2021 version) — abandoned
| Levels | Syllables | Characters for reading |
Characters for writing |
Words | Grammar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced | 7→9 | 1110 (+202) | 3000 (+1200) | 1200 (+500) | 11092 (+5636) | 572 (+148) |
| Intermediate | 6 | 908 (+86) | 1800 (+300) | 700 (+400) | 5456 (+1140) | 424 (+67) |
| 5 | 822 (+98) | 1500 (+300) | 4316 (+1071) | 357 (+71) | ||
| 4 | 724 (+116) | 1200 (+300) | 3245 (+1000) | 286 (+76) | ||
| Beginner | 3 | 608 (+140) | 900 (+300) | 300 | 2245 (+973) | 210 (+81) |
| 2 | 468 (+199) | 600 (+300) | 1272 (+772) | 129 (+81) | ||
| 1 | 269 | 300 | 500 | 48 | ||
| Total | 1110 | 3000 | 1200 | 11092 | 572 | |
Former HSK syllabus (version 2.0)
| Levels | Syllabus words | Actual words | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 2500 (+1300) | 3018 | 1830 |
| 4 | 1200 (+600) | 1475 | 1096 |
| 3 | 600 (+300) | 760 | 625 |
| 2 | 300 (+150) | 420 | 358 |
| 1 | 150 | 211 | 187 |
Comparison table for levels 1 to 5
| Level | Former HSK (2.0) | HSK 3.0 (2021) | HSK 3.0 (late 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Characters (reading) | |||
| 1 | 187 | 300 | 246 |
| 2 | 358 | 600 | 371 |
| 3 | 625 | 900 | 655 |
| 4 | 1096 | 1200 | 1096 |
| 5 | 1830 | 1500 | 1527 |
| Level | Former HSK (2.0) | HSK 3.0 (2021) | HSK 3.0 (late 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Words | |||
| 1 | 150 (syllabus) 211 (actual) | 500 | 300 |
| 2 | 300 (syllabus) 420 (actual) | 1272 | 500 |
| 3 | 600 (syllabus) 760 (actual) | 2245 | 1000 |
| 4 | 1200 (syllabus) 1475 (actual) | 3245 | 2000 |
| 5 | 2500 (syllabus) 3018 (actual) | 4316 | 3600 |
Main observations
Characters for reading: the 2021 version of HSK 3.0 imposed a very fast progression right from the beginner levels. The late 2025 version takes a more gradual approach, close to the former HSK (2.0) at levels 1 to 4.
Vocabulary: the 2021 version of HSK 3.0 required far more words at every level. The late 2025 version lowers these requirements by about 17% at level 5, while remaining more ambitious than the former HSK (2.0).
We note that the late 2025 version of HSK 3.0 is ultimately closer to the former HSK (2.0) than to the first version (2021) of HSK 3.0.
A few remarks:
- The "Syllables" section has disappeared. That is good news, because that section made no sense (see our earlier analysis below).
- Level 2 is oddly shorter than level 1: it adds only 200 extra words, compared with 300 for level 1, and 125 extra characters, compared with 246 for level 1.
- The progression is far less linear than in the 2021 version of HSK 3.0.
- The reuse of characters to form new words is also less pronounced than in the 2021 version of HSK 3.0.
The structure of the HSK 3.0 tests (late 2025 version)
Sample tests have been published: sample tests.
Note: the total exam time includes the time the candidate needs to fill in their personal details as well as the answer sheet.
| Skill | Part | Number of questions | Question format | Total (questions) | Duration (minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension | 1 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a spoken word Answers: 3 answer options in the form of images |
20 | Approx. 12 |
| 2 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a spoken sentence Answers: 3 answer options in characters + pinyin |
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| 3 | 5 | Type: Matching Question: 5 mini-dialogues of two lines Answers: 5 answers in the form of images to match with the right dialogue |
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| 4 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a spoken sentence + a question about that sentence Answers: 3 answer options in characters + pinyin |
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| Reading comprehension | 1 | 5 | Type: Matching Question: 5 sentences in characters + pinyin Answers: 5 answers in the form of images to match with the right sentence |
20 | 20 |
| 2 | 5 | Type: Matching Question: 10 sentences to be matched into 5 pairs |
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| 3 | 5 | Type: Fill in the blank Question: 5 sentences (characters + pinyin) with a missing word. Choose the right word from a list of 5 (characters + pinyin) |
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| 4 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a sentence in characters + pinyin and a question about that sentence (characters + pinyin) Answers: 3 answer options in the form of a word in characters + pinyin |
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| Total | 40 | 40 | Approx. 40 | ||
| Skill | Part | Number of questions | Question format | Total (questions) | Duration (minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension | 1 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a spoken sentence Answers: 3 answer options in the form of images |
25 | Approx. 17 |
| 2 | 10 | Type: Matching Question: 5 mini-dialogues of two lines Answers: 5 answers in the form of images to match with the right dialogue |
|||
| 3 | 10 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a mini-dialogue of two lines + a question about that dialogue Answers: 3 answer options in characters + pinyin |
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| Reading comprehension | 1 | 5 | Type: Matching Question: 5 sentences in characters + pinyin Answers: 5 answers in the form of images to match with the right sentence |
25 | 25 |
| 2 | 5 | Type: Fill in the blank Question: 5 sentences (characters + pinyin) with a missing word. Choose the right word from a list of 5 (characters + pinyin) |
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| 3 | 10 | Type: Matching Question: 10 sentences to be matched into 5 pairs |
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| 4 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a sentence in characters + pinyin and a question about that sentence (characters + pinyin) Answers: 3 answer options in the form of a word in characters + pinyin |
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| Writing | 1 | 5 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a character within a word with a missing component Answers: 5 components to choose from |
10 | 10 |
| 2 | 5 | Type: writing Question: a sentence with a missing character (the pinyin of the sentence is given) Answer: write the character |
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| Total | 60 | 60 | Approx. 60 | ||
| Skill | Part | Number of questions | Question format | Total (questions) | Duration (minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listening comprehension | 1 | 10 | Type: Matching Question: very short dialogue (2 lines) Answers: choose the image matching what you hear |
30 | Approx. 23 |
| 2 | 10 | Type: Multiple choice Question: short dialogue (5 of two lines, then 5 of four lines) + a final question Answers: 3 answer options in characters |
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| 3 | 10 | Type: Multiple choice Question: short spoken text + a question about that text Answers: 3 answer options in characters |
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| Reading comprehension | 1 | 10 | Type: Matching Question: 10 sentences to be matched into 5 pairs |
30 | 30 |
| 2 | 10 | Type: Fill in the blank Question: sentence with a missing word Answers: word in characters to be chosen |
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| 3 | 10 | Type: Multiple choice Question: a text in characters and a question in characters about that text Answers: 3 answer options in the form of a word in characters |
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| Writing | 1 | 5 | Type: writing Question: a sentence with a missing character Answer: write the character |
10 | 20 |
| 2 | 5 | Type: composition Question: an image + a keyword Answer: write a complete sentence |
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| Total | 70 | 70 | Approx. 83 | ||
For the question formats of the higher levels, I invite you to consult the sample tests directly.
Our earlier analysis of HSK 3.0 (2021 version)
This section is kept as an archive: it describes the 2021 version of HSK 3.0 as we analysed it at the time. It remains useful for understanding the history of the exam and the teaching principles of HSK 3.0, but it does not describe the syllabus now in force.
Before looking at what this new HSK consisted of, let us take a short step back to look at the previous versions of this exam.
HSK 1.0: came into force in 1990 after 6 years of research and experimentation. HSK 1.0 was divided into three parts and 11 levels in 1997. It was the first Chinese proficiency exam issued by mainland China for non-native speakers. More than 26,000 people took this test. 46 test venues were active in 29 different countries.
HSK 2.0 came into force in 2009 and served as the standard until July 2026. It is based on 6 levels. Each level has a clearly defined vocabulary content. It should be pointed out, however, that this content was not really respected, for reasons we shall see below. From level 1 to 3, a set of grammar points was also specified. These 6 levels were set in parallel with those of the CEFR. But this parallel has often been criticised, given how little content level 1 has. Indeed, the main change in HSK 2.0 was the simplification of the first levels. The aim was clearly stated: to encourage the learning of Chinese.
HSK 3.0. The syllabus has been officially active since 1 July 2021, but the tests for the first 6 levels were not due to be introduced for another 3 to 5 years. As for the test common to levels 7 to 9, for which there was no equivalent in the former HSK (2.0), a first exam was held in December 2021 to "try out" the new format, before its official introduction in March 2022.
HSK 3.0 is divided into 3 main parts and 9 levels:
Part 1 (beginner levels 初等水平): levels 1, 2 and 3.
Part 2 (intermediate levels 中等水平): levels 4, 5 and 6.
Part 3 (advanced levels 高等水平): levels 7, 8 and 9.
Levels 7 to 9 share a common syllabus. There is a single exam and the level is awarded according to the test results.
The 6 levels (+ part 3) have a clearly defined syllabus in terms of syllables, characters, words and grammar points.
This is where a major and truly interesting innovation of HSK 3.0 comes in: the syllabus is no longer based on vocabulary words alone, but above all on characters.
Before going any further, it must be made clear that in Chinese, "word" and "character" are two very different things. A character can be a word (or even several words), and a word can be made up of one, two, three or even four characters. Some characters have a meaning, for example 国 guó "country", but are not used on their own. The WORD for "country" is 国家 guójiā, with 2 characters. Each of these two characters is reused in a great many words. For example: 中国，法国，外国，国外 / 家人，搬家，家里人, etc.
Confusing character and word in Chinese is a serious mistake.
The big problem with HSK versions 1.0 and 2.0 is that the content is based on vocabulary and not on characters. Yet, as we have just said, reusing the characters of a given level makes it possible to build far more vocabulary words than the number presented in that level. These words are in fact found in the HSK 2.0 past papers, even though they do not appear in the syllabus vocabulary list. That is why the courses on this site have more vocabulary words per level than the number announced in the syllabus. I have called these words "variants". For example, for level 1 of HSK 2.0, the official list presents 150 vocabulary words whereas I counted 211 of them in the past papers. And this number can easily be increased further: I have only kept to the variants found in the past papers.
One of the major changes in HSK 3.0 is that it includes lists of characters and this notion of reusing characters to form words. Vocabulary learning is thereby optimised.
I welcome this, because it is a principle I was already using in the courses on Learn-chinese.online, hence the higher number of vocabulary words than in the HSK syllabus.
You may notice the "Syllables" column in the table for the 2021 version. That was the part of the syllabus that made the least sense to my mind. A "phonetics and phonology" section would have been very interesting, but I cannot see what purpose a list of syllables can serve. From a teaching point of view, it is nonsense. This column has disappeared in the late 2025 version.
Then come the characters, words and grammar columns, with the additional number per level and the cumulative total across levels.
A grammar syllabus already existed in HSK 2.0, up to level 3. The HSK 3.0 one is much more detailed.
The main new feature is, as we saw above, the list of characters.
Another major new feature is the inclusion of skills level by level, with sometimes quite precise benchmarks.
For example, for level 1 of the 2021 version:
Listening comprehension: being able to understand a dialogue of no more than 80 characters, at a speed of at least 100 syllables per minute. Images or objects may aid comprehension.
Speaking: being able to use the vocabulary and the grammar points to express oneself simply.
Reading comprehension: being able to read a text of no more than 100 characters, at a reading speed of at least 80 characters per minute. Images or objects may aid comprehension.
Writing: being able to write 100 characters of the level (out of 300), respecting stroke order and direction as well as basic punctuation, at a minimum speed of 10 characters per minute. Being able to write words or simple sentences about basic personal information.
Note the difference between the number of characters to be known for reading (300) and for writing (100). This is inspired by Joël Bellassen's character threshold lists. It is pedagogically very interesting, because one always knows more characters for reading than for writing. The characters to be known for writing are not presented by level (1 to 9), but by part (beginner, intermediate and advanced).