What Score Do You Need to Pass the HSK? (2026)

You need 120 out of 200 to pass HSK 1 and HSK 2, and 180 out of 300 to pass HSK 3 and HSK 4, and only the total counts: there is no minimum score per section. For HSK 5 and HSK 6, the official pages list the 300-point maximum but print no pass mark at all, so the number that matters is the one your university or employer sets.

That last point surprises most candidates, and so does what “no section minimum” allows. We enumerated every possible HSK score report with a small script of our own, hsk_score_space.py, which tests the official rules on hand-made cases before counting. The results below count score profiles, not people: each combination of section scores counts once, which describes what the rule permits, never how real candidates perform.

What is the HSK pass mark at each level?

The pass rule depends on how many sections the level has. Each section is scored from 0 to 100, and the official level pages at chinesetest.cn state the total you need.

The three sections are 听力 (tīnglì, listening), 阅读 (yuèdú, reading) and 书写 (shūxiě, writing). Scores stay valid for two years from the exam date, per the same pages. Our complete HSK guide explains what each level certifies; this article is only about the arithmetic of passing.

Is there a minimum score per HSK section?

No. The official wording is that “a cumulative score of 120 or above qualifies as a passing mark” for HSK 1 and 2, and the same with 180 for HSK 3 and 4. Nothing is said about individual sections, so a weak section can be carried by a strong one.

The arithmetic still creates an implicit floor at the lower levels. At HSK 1 and 2, the other section can add at most 100, so you need at least 20 in each section to reach 120. At HSK 3 and 4, two perfect sections already total 200, so the third section can be 0 and the report still passes.

Those are extremes, not advice. But they show what the HSK certifies: a total level of Chinese, not a balanced profile. If your listening is weak, the rule lets reading compensate. Listening is still the section to fix first, as our guide to studying for HSK listening explains, because it is the one candidates most often underestimate.

How many different ways can you pass the HSK?

Because sections are scored in whole points from 0 to 100, the space of possible reports is finite, so the script counts it exactly. Here is what it finds.

Read the fourth row carefully. At HSK 3 and 4, more than three quarters of the passing profiles include at least one section below 60 out of 100. The “60%” pass mark is a 60% average, and most ways of reaching it are uneven.

The fifth row scales the JLPT’s sectional floor (19 out of 60, about 31.7%) to the HSK’s 100-point sections. Almost a quarter of passing HSK 3-4 profiles would be failed by a JLPT-style rule. At HSK 1 and 2, the built-in floor of 20 keeps that share down to 4.7%.

Again, these are profiles, not candidates. Real scores cluster, and nobody knows from this how many people actually pass with a collapsed section. What the count proves is how permissive the rule is by design.

How does the HSK compare with the JLPT on section minimums?

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test works differently, and the contrast explains why HSK candidates rarely hear about section minimums. The JLPT’s official scoring rules require both an overall pass mark and a minimum in every scoring section: “If there is even one scoring section where the score is below the sectional pass mark, examinees are determined to have failed, no matter how high the total score.”

The last column comes from the same script: among JLPT profiles that clear the overall total, between 21.4% and 41.2% still fail on a sectional floor. The HSK equivalent of that column is zero, at every level, because the floor does not exist.

What about HSK 5, HSK 6 and HSK 7-9?

HSK 5 and HSK 6 are where the published rule gets thin. Their pages, in English and in Chinese, say the full score is 300 points (满分300分, mǎnfēn sānbǎi fēn) and stop there, while the pages for levels 1 to 4 add the pass line. The 180 figure you see everywhere is the historical convention, and our script labels it as an assumption when it models these levels.

HSK 7-9 has no pass mark in that sense. It is one exam covering listening, reading, writing, translation and speaking. Each skill is scored 0 to 100 using an Item Response Theory model, and you are placed as Below HSK 7, HSK 7, HSK 8 or HSK 9, according to CTI’s HSK 7-9 page.

What universities actually ask for at these levels, including section minimums, is covered in our HSK 5 guide and HSK 6 guide.

Does HSK 3.0 change the passing score?

Not officially, as of 23 September 2026. The new HSK syllabus (HSK 考试大纲, kǎoshì dàgāng) was published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation in November 2025 and took effect in July 2026, according to the cover of the official syllabus PDF. CTI has also released new-format sample papers.

Those papers shorten the upper levels: HSK 3 drops from 80 questions to 70, HSK 4 from 100 to 70, HSK 5 from 100 to 72 and HSK 6 from 101 to 82, while HSK 1 stays at 40. HSK 2 gains a 10-item writing section, and a separate speaking test (口语, kǒuyǔ) appears for levels 3 to 6. The level pages, however, still describe the older format and its scoring. If HSK 2 keeps a writing section, a 200-point total cannot last, so check the page again before you register. For the vocabulary side of the reform, see HSK 3.0 vs 2.0.

What score should you actually aim for?

Aim above the line, in every section. The rule forgives a weak section, but the exam day does not warn you in advance which section will go badly. A candidate at 60 in all three sections of HSK 3 passes with zero margin; one bad listening passage and the total drops below 180.

A practical target is to reach about 70% in each section on timed sample papers before you book. If a university sets its own number, such as HSK 4 with 180 or more, or a higher score for competitive programs, that number replaces the official pass line. Whether the certificate is worth the fee for your goal is covered in is the HSK worth it.

Where Coco fits

The sections that decide your HSK score are listening and reading, and both grow from the same habit: reading and hearing Chinese you mostly understand, every day. Coco Chinese gives you graded stories from HSK 1 to HSK 6 with native Beijing audio, tap-to-translate pinyin and spaced repetition, so a weak section gets daily practice instead of a last-minute cram. You can start with the free graded story library at your level.

The bottom line

The HSK passes you on the total: 120 of 200 for HSK 1-2, 180 of 300 for HSK 3-4, and no section minimum. That rule lets a pass hide a section as low as 20 at the first two levels and as low as 0 at HSK 3 and 4, and 23.4% of passing HSK 3-4 profiles contain a section the JLPT would fail. For HSK 5 and 6, no pass mark is printed today, and the new format has not published new scoring yet. Train every section to a margin, and let the official page, not a forum post, settle the rule for your level.