Skills · 卷
What is on the HSK 1 exam?
The HSK Level 1 outline times the whole sitting at about 40 minutes, including 5 minutes for personal information. Listening and reading are the two parts.
Written October 6, 2026. Updated November 5, 2026. Read the clock on the paper you will sit.
What is on the HSK 1 exam? On the HSK Level 1 outline, the whole sitting is about 40 minutes, including 5 minutes for personal information, and the November 2025 syllabus is which HSK should I study. If you are at zero, say one line on the sentence bank before you time a paper.
The whole sitting is about 40 minutes
The HSK Level 1 outline writes: “全部考试约 40 分钟（含考生填写个人信息时间 5 分钟）。” That line is the whole sitting. The forty-item split of that paper stays on should I learn Chinese characters.
Listening and reading are the two timed parts
Listening on the HSK Level 1 outline is 20 items and about 15 minutes. Reading is 20 items and 17 minutes. The content table also lists 3 minutes to fill in the answer sheet, and about 35 minutes for those parts together. How many times you hear an item stays on how to improve Chinese listening.
| Part | What this page uses |
|---|---|
| Listening | 20 items, about 15 minutes of listening |
| Reading | 20 items, 17 minutes of reading |
| Answer sheet | 3 minutes |
| Personal information | 5 minutes, inside the about-40-minute sitting |
| Passing total | 120, the passing total |
| Total column on the report | 200, the total column |
120 is the passing total
The HSK Level 1 outline writes: “HSK（一级）成绩报告提供听力、阅读和总分三个分数。总分 120 分为合格。” The report table lists a listening column of 100, a reading column of 100, and a total column of 200.
A long-term result and a two-year proof
The HSK Level 1 outline writes: “HSK 成绩长期有效。” That sentence says the result stays valid long term. The next sentence limits a two-year period to using the result as proof of Chinese ability when a foreign student enters a Chinese institution to study, counted from the test day.
The Chinese Tests Service Website regulations page, read 5 November 2026, says score reports are valid for two years as proof of a candidate's language proficiency. That note is about the report used as proof. The outline sentence above still says the result stays valid long term, and it still limits its own two-year period to entering a Chinese institution. Ask the school which proof it accepts.
The November 2025 syllabus is the other file
The file with the November 2025 cover is which HSK should I study. This page uses the Level 1 outline for the sitting and the passing total.
A spoken line is still the sentence bank
A line you can say still starts on how to start learning Chinese. Say it from the sentence bank, then come back to the clock on this outline.
Questions about the sitting
What is on the HSK 1 exam?
On the HSK Level 1 outline, listening is about 15 minutes, reading is 17 minutes, and the whole sitting is about 40 minutes, including 5 minutes for personal information.
How long is the HSK 1 exam?
The HSK Level 1 outline times the whole sitting at about 40 minutes, including 5 minutes for personal information. Listening is 20 items and about 15 minutes. Reading is 20 items and 17 minutes. The content table also lists 3 minutes to fill in the answer sheet. The November 2025 syllabus is which HSK should I study.
What is the HSK 1 passing score?
On the HSK Level 1 outline, a total of 120 is the passing mark. The report table lists a listening column of 100, a reading column of 100, and a total column of 200.
Sources
- Chinese Testing International, HSK Level 1 outline (read 5 November 2026).
Open the Level 1 outline's exam section, read the about-40-minute line, then read that 120 is the passing total.
Version 1. Recheck when that outline reprints the exam section, or every six months.