HSK · 汉语水平考试 四级 · CTI / CLEC
HSK 4 Mock Test
HSK 4 is the scholarship-floor Chinese certification — the biggest Indian-to-China pathway. Most CSC (Chinese government) bachelor scholarships in Mandarin-medium programmes set HSK 4 as the published admission floor. Without HSK 4 your scholarship file is rarely shortlisted.
Practise the full HSK 4 (汉语水平考试 四级) online. Our mock tests mirror the exact CTI specification — three timed sections, 100 items in total, no second listening playback, and a 180/300 pass mark. Build the ~1,200-word vocabulary, character-writing reflex, and listening pace you need before sitting the official paper.
HSK 4 exam format — three timed sections
HSK 4 keeps the same skill set as HSK 3 but doubles the vocabulary, adds longer reading passages, and introduces short character-writing tasks. No speaking — speaking is tested separately in the HSKK 中级 (intermediate) spoken exam.
听力 (Listening)
30 min · 3 parts
45 items across three parts — short dialogues, longer dialogues, and short monologues. Native Mainland Mandarin audio at standard speed with one-time playback (no repeats). Scored 0–100.
阅读 (Reading)
40 min · 3 parts
40 items — fill-in-the-blank vocabulary, sentence-matching for paired Q&A, and longer text-comprehension passages of ~180 characters. Scored 0–100.
书写 (Writing)
25 min · 2 parts
15 items — sentence reordering (arrange given words into a grammatically correct sentence) and short character-writing tasks based on a pinyin prompt and image. Scored 0–100. AI-evaluated for grammar, character accuracy, and coherence.
HSK 4 Scoring — clean 100 + 100 + 100
| Section | Max points | Sectional target |
|---|---|---|
| Listening (听力) | 100 | 60 |
| Reading (阅读) | 100 | 60 |
| Writing (书写) | 100 | 60 |
| Overall total | 300 | 180 |
You need 180/300 overall — strong performance in two sections can partially compensate for a weaker third. The most common Indian-candidate fail pattern: 书写 (writing) collapses below 45 because character-writing from pinyin was not drilled enough.
What you'll master with our HSK 4 mock tests
Who needs HSK 4?
CSC Chinese-government scholarship applicants
HSK 4 is the published admission floor for most CSC bachelor and pre-university scholarships in Mandarin-medium programmes.
Confucius Institute Chinese Bridge entrants
The Chinese Bridge (汉语桥) competition for university students typically expects HSK 4 as the baseline language proof.
Indian engineers servicing Chinese OEMs
Junior client-facing roles at Xiaomi / OPPO / Vivo / BYD / CATL Indian operations typically begin at HSK 4.
Heritage Mandarin learners
Indians from Chinese / Sino-Indian / Hakka / Tibetan-Mandarin backgrounds formalising their spoken Mandarin into a recognised written credential.
Frequently asked — HSK 4
Is HSK 4 enough for a CSC scholarship?
For most CSC bachelor scholarships in Mandarin-medium programmes, yes — HSK 4 is the published admission floor. For top-tier universities (Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, Zhejiang), HSK 5 is preferred and often becomes the de-facto cut-off. For Masters and PhD programmes taught in Chinese, HSK 5 or 6 is expected. Always cross-check the specific programme listing on chinesescholarshipcouncil.org.
How long does it take to reach HSK 4 from zero?
Most adult Indian learners reach HSK 4 in 9–12 months of consistent study (4–6 hours per week) including native-audio exposure. Heritage learners with passive Mandarin exposure can compress this to 5–7 months. The biggest single time-sink is character writing — budget 25–30 percent of total study time for hand-writing practice if you want to clear the 书写 section comfortably.
Does the HSK 4 certificate expire?
The certificate itself is a lifetime credential — but scholarship councils, employers, and Chinese embassies prefer to see a recent result. Convention is that HSK 4 within 2 years is treated as fresh. Older than 2 years and you may be asked to retake. Plan a retake into your timeline if you took HSK 4 long before applying.
What is the HSK 4 exam fee in India?
Approximately ₹2,500–₹3,000 in India for the paper-based HSK 4 at Confucius Institute centres. Internet-based HSK (HSK iBT) sat from home is slightly cheaper at ~₹2,000–₹2,500. Pricing changes periodically — confirm on chinesetest.cn or the chosen Confucius Institute centre site before registering.
Where can I take HSK 4 in India?
Current Confucius Institute / Confucius Classroom exam centres include Mumbai University, Vellore Institute of Technology, Lovely Professional University Punjab, K.R. Mangalam University in Delhi NCR, and Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi. The Internet-based HSK (HSK iBT) can be sat from home with a webcam, dual camera setup, and a quiet room.
What is the difference between HSK 4 and HSKK 中级?
HSK 4 is the written exam (Listening, Reading, Writing). HSKK 中级 is the separate intermediate spoken exam (口试), administered as a 21-minute recorded speaking test. They are billed and registered separately. If your scholarship listing asks for a complete language profile, plan to clear both HSK 4 and HSKK 中级.
Is HSK 4 (HSK 2.0) being replaced by the new HSK 3.0?
Hanban / CLEC is rolling out a redesigned HSK 3.0 (also called "International Chinese Language Proficiency Standards"). Most exam centres in India and most CSC scholarship listings still reference the established HSK 2.0 (HSK 4 / 5 / 6) structure described on this page. We will update when the rollout reaches the Indian exam-centre network.
Preparing at a different level?
Don't let HSK 4 stall your scholarship
Practice under real exam conditions. Drill the character-writing section that fails most candidates. Walk into the next sitting ready to clear 180/300.
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