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.

105 min total Pass mark 180/300 Scholarship minimum

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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

Full HSK 4 exam structure: section timings, item counts, and the 180/300 pass mark

All 1,200 cumulative HSK 4 vocabulary, including 600 characters new from HSK 3

Core grammar: 把 (bǎ) construction, 被 (bèi) passive, comparison patterns (比 / 没有), 越来越...

Result clauses with 得 (de) and the difference between 得 / 的 / 地

Listening at standard Mainland Mandarin speed with no second playback

Character writing from pinyin prompts — the section that catches most self-taught learners

Scholarship-application Mandarin: numbers, dates, addresses, simple personal essays

How to structure a 5-minute personal-introduction email in Mandarin

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?

HSK 5 HSK 6

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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Disclaimer: LanguageTest.in is an independent Chinese-exam preparation service and is not affiliated with Hanban, Chinese Testing International (CTI), CLEC, the Confucius Institute network, or any official Chinese-language certification body. Mock tests are independently created for practice purposes only. CSC scholarship policy, HSK structure, and minimum language thresholds can change — always verify current requirements with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in India and the official CSC scholarship portal.

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