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Chinese Proficiency Test - HSK

U-Mich HSK Site Location: Suite 6165, 202 S. Thayer Street Office Hours: TBA Coordinator: Qinghai Chen Assistant to Coordinator: TBA HSK Registration Form (pdf) About HSK General Information HSK Certification HSK Scholarship Registration for HSK HSK Fees Preparations for HSK Taking the Test Certificates and Score Reports Important Note More about HSK Basic More about HSK Elementary-Intermediate More about HSK Advanced HSK Questions and Answers General Information China's Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi , also known as HSK or the Chinese Proficiency Test, is a standardized test designed and developed by the HSK Center of Beijing Language University to assess the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers incluing foreigners, overseas Chinese and students from Chinese national minorities. Supervised by the State HSK Commission under the PRC Ministry of Education, HSK is held regularly in China and other countries each year. Certificates are issued to those who have secured the required scores.  As tests of general language proficiency, HSK is not based on any particular textbook or course of study. Differentiated by levels of difficulty, HSK is divided into three categories with eleven score levels: HSK Basic (Levels 1, 2, 3) HSK Elementary-Intermediate (Ele. Levels 3, 4, 5; Int. Levels 6, 7, 8) HSK Advanced (Levels 9, 10, 11) These three categories of the test form a comprehensive testing system, ranging from beginning to advanced levels (The highest level in "Basic" overlaps the lowest level in "Elementary-Intermediate").  An HSK Applicant has to decide which of the three categories of the test is applicable to him or her.  commonly, the two factors to be considered are: (1) purpose of taking the test (e.g., for what kind of certificate), and (2) current competence level.  At the University of Michigan, students with four years and above of Chinese studies are recommended to take HSK Elementary-Intermediate, whereas students with three years and below are recommended to take HSK Basic.  At the same time, students with exceptionally good language competence (typically having received regular education in China for quite some years) are encouraged to take HSK Advanced. Back to Top HSK Certification The HSK Certificate serves three purposes: To certify that the holder has obtained the required Chinese proficiency to enter a college or university in China as an undergraduate or graduate student. To apply to an undergraduate program in arts (e.g., Chinese literature, history, philosophy and traditional medicine), an "Intermediate Level C" Certificate (representing Language Level 6) is required. To apply to an undergraduate program in any other major, an "Elementary Level C" Certificate or "Basic Level A" Certificate (representing Language Level 3) is required. The language requirement for entering a graduate program is an "Advanced Level C" Certificate (representing Language Level 9). Without meeting the HSK certificate requirement, an applicant will have to take Chinese language courses at the relevant institution first. He or she may enroll in the academic program only when the required HSK certificate has been granted.  To certify that the holder can be exempt from taking certain Chinese courses depending on the level of certification. At the University of Michigan, HSK scores can be used to waive foreign language or humanities requirements (Please note that policies may vary from college to college).  Presently, HSK Level 3 is set by the Chinese Language Program as an equivalence of 4th semester proficiency. To serve as a reference for hiring decisions for positions requiring a certain level of Chinese competency. Back to Top HSK Scholarship The Chinese HSK Authorities have established the HSK Winner Scholarship to financially aid outstanding test-takers to study Chinese language, culture, history and philosophy at a Chinese universtiy for one year. Scholarship recipients enjoy free tuition, free accommodation, free textbooks and free medical care. They also enjoy the same living allowance standard as what ordinary graduate students would obtain from the China Government Scholarship. However, international travelling expenses will be their own responsibility.  Qualifications of an HSK Winner Scholarship applicant are as follows: a) non-Chinese citizen, b) native language not being Chinese, c) formal schooling at a postsecondary level, d) age below 45, e) having earned HSK certificate.  According to a list of candidates prepared by the State HSK Commission, the Secretariat of the State Commission of Study Abroad Foundation will provide candidates with an application form through a nearby Chinese embassy or consulate. Candidates should send the completed form along with other required documents directly to the Secretariat of the State Commission of Study Abroad Foundation by May 15. An approved candidate will be sent a JW201 Visa Application as well as the admission notice from a Chinese university by the end of June.  The contact address is: China Scholarship councel No. 160 Fuxingmennei Street Beijing 100031 P. R. China Tel: 011-86-10-66413253 E-Mail: laihua@csc.edu.cn Fax: 011-86-10-66413255 http://www.csc.edu.cn Back to Top Registration for HSK Registration dates for the upcoming test on the U-M campus will be posted once determined. Until then, please contact the Coordinator with any questions. To register, an applicant is required to do the following: Fill in a Registration Form (IMPORTANT: All the require information should be carefully provided in an accurate and legible manner.) Present a picture ID.  Submit two passport photos without head wear. The back side of the photos should carry the applicant's Chinese name in pencil.  Pay a registration fee and a testing fee in CASH. (IMPORTANT: No personal checks are accepted, and these fees are NOT refundable under ANY circumstances.) Pick up an Admission Ticket and a Test-Taker's Guide  Pay a $5.00 handling fee if you would like to receive your test results through the mail. Registration by mail is not recommended but acceptable for applicants who live at least two hours away from Ann Arbor. The following items must be sent in by REGISTERED MAIL at least SEVEN WORK DAYS (postmarked) prior to the registration deadline to the following address: U-Mich HSK Site (Qinghai Chen), 202 South Thayer Building, Suite 6111, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608. A resume carrying name, sex, nationality, date of birth, postal address, phone number and e-mail address (if available).  A copy of a picture ID.  Two passport photos without head wear, with the Chinese name written in pencil on the back of each. A MONEY ORDER to pay all the fees involved.  To those who register by mail, Admission Tickets and Test-Taker's Guides will be mailed to their addresses promptly. If they have not received these items FIVE WORK DAYS after the registration deadline, they should contact the U-Mich HSK Site immediately.  No registration may be made on the telephone. Late registrations will be processed for the next scheduled test.  Back to Top HSK Fees HSK rates vary from country to country outside China. Other fees may be charged by a testing site for services such as pre-test tutoring and mock tests. The U-Mich HSK Site is non-profit. All fees, except for the part going to the Chinese HSK authorities, are for cost recovery, site maintanance, and program development. At the U-Mich HSK Site, a tutoring session on HSK format and a mock test using a sample HSK paper will be arranged before each official HSK test. Those who take the mock test will know the result right after the test. However, the test booklet, the answer sheet and the key will have to be returned after use before the test-taker leaves the room.  Back to Top Preparations for HSK HSK aims at assessing the test-taker's general competency in the Chinese language, so it is not based on any particular textbook or course. Applicants may refer to any textbook in preparing for the test, although it is usually hard to make significant improvement in general language competence in a short period of time.  A Test-Taker's Guide and a brochure describing the requirements and format of HSK Basic and HSK Elementary-Intermediate will be given out free of charge at registration. To provide applicants with more direct assistance, a free-of-charge one-hour help session on test format and a charged mock test will be scheduled between the application deadline and the test date. Due to the fact that HSK test instructions are given exclusively in Chinese, the help session will be used to introduce test formats. At the same time, since HSK Advanced is only offered in simplified characters, an additional help session, Demystifying Simplified Characters, may be arranged upon request.  For detailed information about HSK preparatory activities on our campus, please check on 2007 HSK Schedule above. Back to Top Taking the Test Both the Admission Ticket and a picture ID are required for admission to the testing room. A test-taker should have nothing on the desk but the test booklet, answer sheet, pencils, and erasers. Use of tape-recorders, cameras, dictionaries, note-books, text-books or papers of any kind is prohibited. Test-takers who are late for less than five minutes (counted from the start of the part of listening comprehension) can enter the testing room right away. Those who are late for five to thirty-five minutes may enter the testing room when the first part (Listening Comprehension) is finished, with NO make-up for the missed part. Those who are late for over thirty-five minutes automatically lose the opportunity to take the test, with NO make-up whatsoever.  Back to Top  Certificates and Score Reports Certificates and score reports will be sent to the testing site by HSK Center in Beijing within 60 days after the test is administered. As soon as the U-Mich site recieves the mail and an announcement is made from the U-Mich Chinese Program Testing Information web page, test-takers can start picking up their certificates and score reports during HSK office hours. This is usually arranged at the beginning of the winter semester. Certificates and score reports have to be picked up within 60 days after the announcement. U-Mich HSK Site will not be responsible for keeping them thereafter. Those who expect to receive the test results through the mail, should also pre-pay a $5.00 handling fee at registration. An HSK certificate has permanent validity, whereas the validity of a score report, as a certification for a foreign student to enter a college or university in China, lasts two years from the date when the test is administered. Back to Top  Important Note HSK Information on this page is prepared by the U-Mich HSK Site with reference to original HSK materials published by the HSK authorities. Adaptations have been made to suit the local situations. The ultimate rights of interpretations of HSK policies remain with the Office of PRC HSK State Commission at the following address: HSK Office 17th Fl., Fangyuan Mansion B56 Zhongguancun South St. Beijing, China  100044 Fax: (86) 10-88026479 Tel: (86) 10-88026478 (86) 10-88026311 E-mail: Kaoshi@hanban.edu.cn Back to Top