HSK test at Goldsmiths University of London

[Milkybar_Kid]

Hello,

 

I am considering taking the HSK test this summer, but the only place that offers the internet-based test in August is Goldsmiths University of London.

 

Has anyone sat the HSK test here before? Do you have any feedback?

 

Is Goldsmiths easy to get to on the underground?

 

I will be travelling down from Sheffield for the test so I hope to make the commute as hassle-free as possible.

 

Many thanks

[sean1]

I took the exam at Goldsmiths. It's very easy to get to on the Tube. The nearest station is New Cross and it takes about 15 minutes from Waterloo. 

[Milkybar_Kid]

Having completed the exam at Goldsmiths a few weeks ago, I would like to offer some thoughts which may help future test takers.

 

Finding the Confucius centre from the New Cross tube station was a piece of cake. As stated in the post above, it was a nice gentle 15 minute walk.

 

I was part of a group of around 15 people who were taking various levels of the HSK. All of the people I met were really friendly.

 

I found the Chinese invigilators at the Confucius centre to be a little bit cold and indifferent, but then I suppose I would be too if I had to work on a Sunday afternoon. No documents were checked; we were simply asked for our names, handed our paperwork and led to the computer room. The invigilators should probably toughen up on this as this setup could potentially be exploited by unscrupulous test takers.

 

During the actual test itself I and some of the other examinees encountered problems with the computer hardware. As there are no opportunities to test the equipment, as soon as you have logged in you're straight onto the first listening question. I only realised at this time that my right headphone wasn't working. By the time the invigilators had changed the headphones for me, the system had already moved on to question 2. TBH I was quite fortunate. When I was speaking to another examinee after the test, he told me that his computer had logged him out of the system after only 30 min, then the invigilators told him: "you must have finished, goodbye". I still wonder how that all worked out for him. If you are reading this, could you let me know?

 

I also found the input system for the writing section to be a little weird. It was strange having to type and select one character at a time (2 at most for simple words like 我們) when I am used to typing a whole sentence in Google Pinyin and it popping straight up.

 

Throughout the test the invigilators spent most of their time either sat down at the front behind a computer screen, or outside talking on their phone. Again, this probably could lead to some instances of cheating in the future.

 

Overall it wasn't a bad experience. I would like to have talked to some of the other examinees after the test, however because everyone finished at different times nobody seemed to stick around.

 

Now I just need to wait for my result.

[Shelley]

Thanks for the feedback. Hope you did well