First Global HSK (Level 7-9) Test Date Announced

You might remember us writing about how the HSK would be getting an overhaul last year, replacing the previous HSK 2.0, which consists of six levels, with a new HSK 3.0 that has nine levels. While there was a bit of initial confusion as to when the new HSK would actually be put into practice, the wait is now over, with the first global HSK level 7-9 test dates having been announced.

The very first global HSK 7-9 exam will take place on Nov 26, with the registration deadline for the exam being at midnight on Nov 12. To register you’ll need to go to this link: www.chinesetest.cn where you will also need to pay an exam fee of RMB 1000 to take part. 

Now, onto the contents of the new HSK 7-9 exam.

The biggest difference in this new format is that the HSK 7-9 test is only one exam. Your result will determine whether you are level 7, 8 or 9. This is different to the previous HSK tests where you select a single level to be tested on. 

The test is made up of five different sections: listening, reading, writing, translation, and speaking. This is also different to previous tests which had no spoken element, with a separate speaking test, called HSKK, being optional. For the translation part of the exam, test takers can choose from the following five languages: English, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese and Korean. When you sign up for the test you’ll need to select your chosen language.

You can see a complete breakdown of the structure for the HSK 7-9 test in the chart below:

As you can see, there are 98 questions in total and the test will take approximately 3.5 hours to complete. Due to the length of the test, it'll be broken into two sections, with a ten minute break during the first section and then a lunch break followed by the second section. You can see what a test day would normally look like below:

There are two options for taking the test: you can either take an internet-based test at an HSK test center or take an internet-based test at home. Usually there is a third option to take a paper-based test at a test center, but this is not an option for this coming exam on Nov 26.

If you want to find out more about the new HSK structure and why the new levels 7-9 were introduced you can check out our previous article about it here.

Will you be planning on taking the new HSK 7-9 test? Let us know in the comments below.

READ: Mandarin Monday: Learning Common Chinese Idioms

Images: Katie Coy, Shijiehanyujiaoxue