HSK Exam Guide HSK 4: test structure, pass mark and word count
HSK 4 has 100 questions in three parts: listening, reading and writing. The level page gives about 105 minutes for the whole exam, including 5 minutes for candidates to fill in personal information. The full score is 300, and the page gives 180 or above as the pass mark.
Who the level is for
The level page says HSK 4 is aimed at intermediate learners of Chinese and users who have a strong base in listening, reading and writing in Chinese. It also says the level covers related topics, tasks, grammar and Chinese culture and the national context of China.
Start time, score report and validity
The level page prints the test start time as 09:00, in all local times.
The score report gives four scores: Listening, Reading, Writing and Total. The page says the full score is 300. It says a total of 180 or above counts as a pass.
The page says HSK scores are valid for two years, starting from the exam date.
The level page's Test Structure tab is where the page sets out the test format. This article does not repeat the section-by-section breakdown.
Vocabulary: two different figures
The level page says HSK 4 covers an extensive vocabulary of 1,200 Chinese words. That is the figure for this level as the level page gives it.
The HSK 3.0 syllabus (考试大纲) is a separate document. It was issued in November 2025, and its cover gives July 2026 as the implementation date. The syllabus does not print totals for word or character lists. The counts below were made by this site from the serial numbers in the syllabus lists. They are not totals printed in the syllabus.
| Level 4 item in the syllabus | Count from the numbered list |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary, new words at level 4 | 1,000 (serial numbers 1001–2000) |
| Vocabulary, cumulative to level 4 | 2,000 |
| 认读字 (recognition characters) | 441 |
| 书写字 (writing characters) | 150 |
The 1,200 words on the level page and the counts in this table come from two different documents. This article does not say which one applies to a given test date. The official word lists are in the Vocabulary tab of the level page and in the syllabus. This site does not reproduce them.
Sources
- HSK (Level 4) page, Chinese Testing International (CTI), Chinese Tests Service Website chinesetest.cn
- HSK 考试大纲 / Syllabus for the Chinese Proficiency Test (PDF), Center for Language Education and Cooperation (中外语言交流合作中心)
Checked 11 October 2026
This page is an unofficial summary; it is not published by Chinese Testing International, the Center for Language Education and Cooperation or the Ministry of Education, and the official page prevails if they differ.