How are the HSK-exams graded/scored?

[Lwd]

I'm doing some practice HSK-exams to see where my Chinese level is at. However I can't find how to score my exam. The only thing I can find on internet is stuff like this:

 

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Luckily, no one really cares about your exam score. The most important qualifier is the HSK level that you pass. Therefore, a good HSK score is 60%, which is the minimum to pass for each HSK level.

A passing grade on HSK 1 and 2 is 120 points out of 200. A passing grade on HSK levels 3, 4, 5, or 6 is 180 points out of 300.

 

source: https://www.goabroad.com/articles/language-study-abroad/hsk-exam-faqs

 

For example, HSK 1 has 40 questions, and as mentioned above you can score 200 points max.

 

My question is basically: how do you calculate the number of points? Is there a simple, linear relationship? So 40 correct answers is 200 poins, 30 is 150 points, 20 is 100 points, etc? Or do you start at 200 points, and you have to subtract X points for every wrong answer?

 

Hopefully someone can help me out with this!

[alantin]

If there are 100 questions in the test and you got 60 right, that is 60% of the questions correct. Take that 60 and multiply it by 3, you'll arrive at 180 points.
That's the scoring I've used and my HSK four result in the real test matched quite well with what I got in practice tests.

 

Better yet, use this website and it calculates the correct answers for you: https://mandarinbean.com/hsk-chinese-test-online/

 

Points are not reduced for wrong answers.

[Lwd]

Thanks for your answer. I just wanted to point out that in the text I quoted in my first message, it says that you have to score 60% of the total points available (ie. 120 out of 200) without explaining how to calculate your points; it doesn't say that you need to score 60% of the questions correct. I'm not saying that you are wrong (in fact I believe you are right since you have actually taken HSK exams unlike me) but I'm trying to clarify why I got confused. But maybe I'm just being too precise/nitpicking. when reading that quote.

 

The link you provided is super helpful, thanks for sharing.

[alantin]

I don't think they have published the exact way they count the points and I've seen all kinds of algorithms for it when looking for an answer to this specific question. The best I've found is the one I described above. It may not be exactly how they do it and it doesn't offer any help for scoring the writing part, but for me it has been close enough.

[alantin]

@Lwd, if you are really interested in the HSK scoring system, try to understand this: http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/105461.htm

The way I interpret it (I don't know if it's right or wrong) is that the ultimate score is dependent on everyone else's, who took the test, scores and therefore it is not possible to calculate the real score from the practice test.

For all practical intents and purposes of taking practice tests, the percentage of correct answers is enough. If you score consistently 60% right in the practice tests for a given level, it might or might not be enough to score a certificate depending on the competition in that specific test. If you want to score the certificate, you'll have good chances if your scores are north of 60% in the practice tests. If you want to turn that into a score, then just multiplying it by 3 will give you a ballpark number that you should be able to expect if you took the real test.

Also make sure to time your test and quit answering when the time runs out for a given section even if you haven't answered half of the questions. If you don't, your result wont reflect the actual test.

Taking HSK is it's own skill and in my opinion it does not give you a very good measure of your Chinese skills other than 3 is better than 2, 4 is better than 3 and so forth. But it is useful as a yardstick to notice your progress and can be used as a motivational tool. And it is required if you're looking to study in China.

I expect the HSKv3 to be better at measuring actual ability, but it remains to be seen.

[Lwd]

Thanks a lot for your elaborate answers. This is exactly why I love this community so much. The people here all seem to be very kind and helpful. I really appreciate the time and effort you put in the answer a lot.

 

I encountered that site as well and this part made me laugh:

 

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HSK (Basic) is a standardized test designed for beginners. It is most appropriate for those who have acquired 400-3000 basic Chinese words

 

So the HSK (Basic) test is appropriate if you have acquired somwhere between 400 and 3000 words (moreover anywhere between that number of words makes you a beginner)

 

Anyway the method you provided is indeed more than sufficient for me; I remember I once had an English teacher who would subtract a certain number of points from your final grade for every wrong answer (I think these were simple vocabulary exams), so just in case there would be some exotic scoring method I decided to post this topic.

 

(in case other people ever read this topic, I want to point out that for HSK 1 and 2 you can only score 200 points instead of 300, because 1 and 2 don't have a writing part, hence you would have to multiply your correct percentage of answers with 2).

[malazann]

I am probably roughly at the 2kish word amount, and definitely feel like a begginer ?. I think when I can confidently tell a stranger I can speak Chinese (instead of I am studying Chinese), I will no longer consider myself a begginner?

[becky82]

On 1/9/2022 at 1:59 AM, alantin said:

@Lwd, if you are really interested in the HSK scoring system, try to understand this: http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/105461.htm

 

This is dated 2004, so I would expect this to reflect previous HSK 1.0.  For the current HSK 2.0 system, the most up-to-date document I'm aware of are here and here (from 2013).  They describe a system called 平均分等值法, and if I understand correctly (and maybe I don't, as it's a bit complicated), one's marks are mostly based on one's raw score, but are bumped so that the average mark among students is consistent with previous tests.

[mackie1402]

I knew I'd seen this before somewhere, so I went and grabbed all my old HSK books and found this...

 

This was from a HSK4 test book, but basically it had a table where it broke down the points like this:

 

Listening 2.22 per correct answer

Reading 2.5 per correct answer

Writing (Sentences) 6 per correct answer

Writing (Picture) maximum of 8 points per answer

 

Not sure about the other levels, perhaps it would be in the same book for the appropriate level you wanted.

 

 

Update:

 

So I just checked my HSK6 version of the same book, and it has a similar table.

The HSK6 one says:

Listening 2 points each

Reading 2 points each

Writing (1 Question) maximum of 100 points 

[Alina Khan]

Hi Mackie,

Can you please check for HSK3 grading system per question in the book and update me about that? I have my hsk 3 exam upcoming on 19th of May! I want to check scores for my practice tests.

Thanks in advance ☺️