Register for the HSK through the official Chinese Test Service Website. Read the rules for your test center, level, format, and date before applying. The live registration system and instructions issued by your test center control if they differ from this guide.
Before you register
Prepare an acceptable identity document
Prepare the original identity document you will use for registration and on test day. Candidates testing outside their country of citizenship must register with a passport. Candidates testing in their own country may use a passport or national identity card where accepted.
On test day, the document must be a valid, government-issued photo ID that meets the rules of the country or region where you test. Depending on the location, accepted documents may include a passport, national identity card, residence permit, or travel permit. Taiwan residents taking the test in mainland China must use the travel permit specified by the official test rules.
Your name, date of birth, document number, and other personal details must match the registration record exactly. A candidate who cannot present an acceptable original document may be denied admission and will not be eligible for a transfer, deferral, withdrawal, or refund.
If your passport is being held by an embassy, immigration office, or other authority for visa processing, bring both a copy of the original passport and the original official receipt issued by that authority. Both documents are required for verification.
Registration process
Your registration becomes effective only after you complete steps 1 through 6 below.
- Create an account on the Chinese Test Service Website.
- Select the test type, date, level, format, and test center.
- Enter and verify your personal information, then upload a photo.
- Enter delivery information when required.
- Review the candidate notices, confirm your information, and submit the application.
- Pay online or follow the payment instructions issued by the test center.
- Print the admission ticket when it becomes available.
1. Create an account
First-time users must accept the CTI registration agreement and candidate privacy notice, then create an account with a username, email address, and password.
- One email address may be used for only one account.
- Personal information is used to contact the candidate and administer the test.
- You must sign in with your email address and password to use candidate services.
- One account may hold registrations for multiple tests, although HSK Levels 5 and 6 cannot currently be booked for the same test date.
- The account area stores test records and delivery information and provides routes for payment, invoices, and password changes.
Personal information generally cannot be edited after successful payment. If you find an error, contact the Chinese Test Service Website at kaoshi@chinesetest.cn, call +86 (0)10 5930 7668 for Chinese-language service or +86 (0)10 5930 7662 for English-language service, or contact your test center. The stated service hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00–11:30 a.m. and 1:30–6:00 p.m. China time, excluding Chinese public holidays. Include supporting documents with a correction request.
Tell test-center staff immediately if you discover an error on test day and provide the requested evidence. More than three days after the test, a free correction may no longer be available; a paid score-report correction or additional score-report service may be required.
2. Choose the test and center
Select Register Now, then choose the test type, level, format, and date to see participating test centers. Availability is local: a date in a general calendar does not mean every center offers every level or format.
Complete payment promptly after reserving a place. Leaving the registration flow before payment does not protect a seat if the session later reaches capacity.
3. Enter candidate information and upload a photo
Follow the on-screen instructions, enter accurate personal information, and complete mobile-phone verification when requested.
The registration photo must:
- Be a recent color ID photo taken within the last six months
- Preferably use a white background
- Be a JPG file between 50 KB and 500 KB
- Show the candidate's full face clearly
- Not be a casual, scenic, or lifestyle photo
- Not show a hat, headband, sunglasses, or similar accessories, except a religious head covering that leaves the face visible
- Not be heavily retouched, beautified, generated, or altered with AI
A test center may refuse admission if the photo fails verification or does not allow reliable identification. CTI may cancel the result, and the fee may not be refunded.
4. Enter delivery information
Candidates registering at a test center in mainland China must provide delivery information. Candidates registered in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, or outside China generally do not complete this step.
5. Review and submit
Confirm that every entry is correct. Read the Chinese Test Registration Notice and Candidate Privacy Notice, then select the acknowledgment that you have read and agree to them. You cannot continue without accepting the notices.
6. Pay the test fee
For a mainland China test center, the registration system may offer quick payment, online banking, QR-code payment, JCB, Visa, or Mastercard. For a center in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, or outside China, pay at the center or use its specified method.
For mainland China registrations, a confirmed and paid booking cannot ordinarily be canceled or refunded, and the test type, level, format, and center cannot ordinarily be changed. Review the separate withdrawal and deferral rules below and follow the options displayed for your booking.
7. Print the admission ticket
The admission ticket is generally available in the candidate's account five to seven days before the test. Print it yourself, ask the center for help if the system does not work, or collect it if the center instructs you to do so. Bring a paper copy on test day.
The name, sex, date of birth, and identity-document number on the ticket must match the original document used for registration. Check the ticket as soon as it is issued and contact the center before the test if anything is incorrect.
Keep the admission ticket after the test. Its information may be required to look up results, collect or print a score report, or request additional score services.
Test day
What to bring
- A printed admission ticket
- The same original, valid photo ID used for registration; a copy alone is not accepted
- At least two 2B pencils and an eraser for a paper-based test
Paper and writing instruments are not permitted in an internet-based test room. All other belongings must be placed in the storage area designated by the chief proctor. A candidate without the required admission ticket and identity document cannot test and is not eligible for a transfer, withdrawal, or refund.
If a passport is being renewed or replaced by an immigration authority, bring both the authority's original processing receipt and a copy of the former passport. The special identity-document rules above do not apply to YCT in the same way; follow the YCT instructions for that booking.
Arrival and check-in
Arrive 30 minutes before the start time printed on the admission ticket.
For HSK, YCT, and BCT written tests, a candidate who arrives after the official start but before the listening section ends must wait until listening is over before entering for the remaining sections. No extra time is given. Arrival after the reading section begins results in denied admission.
For HSK, YCT, and BCT speaking tests, arrival after the start time results in denied admission.
At the center, candidates generally:
- Wait in the designated area; use the restroom at this stage if needed.
- Store personal belongings as directed.
- Complete identity verification and security screening.
- Take the assigned seat and wait for instructions.
- Listen to the proctor's instructions and, for an internet-based test, receive login credentials.
Do not exchange internet-test passwords or use another candidate's account. Exchanging an admission-ticket number or password and signing in as another person is treated as impersonation.
During an internet-based test
Sign in with the admission-ticket number and password, then check the equipment. The system times the test automatically. Listening, reading, and writing are separate timed sections; you cannot return to another section after its time has ended.
Some questions may provide an on-screen scratch area. Physical paper and pens are prohibited, and candidates may not record test questions or answers.
During a paper-based test
Complete the answer sheet exactly as directed. Listening, reading, and writing are separately timed, and candidates may not view or answer another section outside its allotted time.
Use only scratch paper supplied by the center. Return it at the end of the test. Do not record or remove questions or answers. Entering another candidate's admission-ticket number or personal information is treated as impersonation.
Conduct in the test room
- Keep your identity document in the designated place for inspection.
- Sit only in the assigned seat and do not begin until instructed.
- Follow proctor directions and complete every section independently.
- Turn off and store all electronic devices, including phones, tablets, laptops, and watches.
- Do not bring prohibited items into the room. A violation may result in cancellation of admission and results without a transfer, deferral, or refund.
- An absence caused by the candidate does not qualify for a refund or transfer.
- Contact the center before test day if you need a hearing aid or other medical device, and provide medical documentation. Medication must be inspected and may need to remain at the chief proctor's desk.
- Remove headphones after the listening section.
- Do not leave during a speaking test; leaving invalidates the result.
- Wear the headset throughout the speaking test and speak clearly.
- Raise your hand if you need assistance.
If a center problem such as damaged test materials or failed equipment prevents completion, CTI will arrange another test as soon as practicable without an additional test fee. The center and level cannot be changed. If force majeure, such as a natural disaster or civil disturbance, prevents the test from taking place, CTI will arrange a retest or refund the test fee in full. The organizer and test center do not compensate indirect losses.
Leaving the room during the test
There is no scheduled break, and candidates ordinarily may not leave during the test. If you need to use the restroom, obtain the chief proctor's permission and give the proctor your admission ticket and identity document before leaving. On return, you must complete identity verification and security screening again. Lost time is not restored.
Before leaving the center, collect your admission ticket, identity document, and stored belongings.
Candidate checklist
Before test day, confirm that you have:
- Reviewed the test procedure and candidate rules
- Printed the admission ticket
- Confirmed the required arrival time, start time, address, and transportation
- Prepared the original identity document used for registration
- Checked the required and prohibited items for your format and center
Required items are the admission ticket, identity document, and pencils for a paper-based test. Unless specifically approved, do not take bags, phones, watches, laptops, MP3 players, timers, recording devices, food, water, or other personal items into the test room. Necessary medication or another accommodation item requires proctor approval.
Results and score reports
Result availability
Use the annual official test schedule to check the expected result date. Contact the test center promptly if a result is not available when expected. The center should report the issue to CTI within three days after the scheduled publication date; paper-based results may be delayed by logistics.
Only candidates who complete the test normally can look up a result and receive a score report. The stated general publication periods are:
- Paper-based written and speaking results: approximately one month after the test
- Internet-based written results: approximately 15 days after the test
- Speaking results: approximately 20 days after the test
Publication may move when it falls on a public holiday. Confirm the specific date on the official website. Once published, enter the admission-ticket number and name on the official result-lookup page.
Score-report delivery
For mainland China test centers, CTI generally dispatches score reports to the delivery address within five business days after publication. Keep your contact information active; an undeliverable report may be destroyed by the courier.
For centers in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and outside China, reports generally reach the test center about 45 days after the test. Contact the center to arrange collection.
An HSK score report is generally valid as evidence of language proficiency for two years. A receiving organization may apply its own acceptance and recency rules.
Additional score services
The candidate account provides routes to order additional score reports (up to 10 copies per application), request a correction to personal information, and request a score review. Follow the instructions and charges shown for the selected service. Once a paid score-review request has been submitted, the review cannot be canceled.
Withdrawal and deferral
Candidates registered at a mainland China center can apply through My Account → Test Records. Candidates registered in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, or outside China must contact the test center, which determines eligibility under the applicable rules.
Withdrawal
- At least 27 days before the original test date, including the 27th day: full refund of the test service fee
- Fewer than 27 days but at least 10 days before the original date, including the 10th day: 50% refund
- Fewer than 10 days before the original date: no withdrawal application accepted
Only one withdrawal request is permitted for a registration. An approved refund is generally returned to the original payment method within 7–10 business days.
Deferral
- At least 27 days before the original test date, including the 27th day: no deferral fee
- Fewer than 27 days but at least 10 days before the original date, including the 10th day: fee equal to 30% of the test service fee
- Fewer than 10 days before the original date: no deferral application accepted
Only one deferral is permitted. The new date must fall within six months after the original booking. The center, test subject, level, and format cannot be changed.
After the normal deadline, a candidate prevented from testing by force majeure or sudden illness must contact the center before the test and provide official evidence. Medical documentation must be issued by a qualified physician and clearly state that the candidate cannot attend on the test date. A personal statement alone is insufficient. No withdrawal or deferral is accepted after the test date or after the candidate has taken any test section.
Direct transfers between test subjects, levels, or centers are not available. These rules apply to HSK, HSK Speaking, YCT, and BCT paper-based and internet-based tests unless the booking terms state otherwise.
Violations and penalties
The chief proctor may terminate a candidate's test and CTI may cancel the result for cheating, including copying, enabling another person to copy, bringing an electronic device or test-related material into the room, or exchanging information with someone inside or outside the room.
Impersonation results in termination, cancellation of the registered candidate's score, and a two-year testing ban. A candidate may also be removed and have the result canceled after ignoring a warning about disruptive conduct, copying or recording test content, attempting to remove a test booklet or answer sheet, or refusing to follow test instructions. Other violations are handled under CTI's rules for Chinese-language test misconduct.
Investigation of unusual results
CTI may delay publication or temporarily withdraw a published result while investigating an unusual score pattern, a reported or randomly audited test-center incident, suspected disclosure of test content, or a technical quality-control review.
The review may include the answer sheet, speaking recording, writing responses, surveillance footage, test records, and information from test-center personnel. An investigation generally takes two to eight weeks and may take longer in a complex case. The result is unavailable during the investigation.
After review, CTI may release the result, cancel it, impose a testing ban under the misconduct rules, continue holding it for further verification, or require a retest within a specified period. In a case requiring consistency verification, a result may remain unpublished if two test outcomes do not pass that review.