Scholarships & funding · · 2 min read
Funding Chinese language study: HSK thresholds and scholarship routes
You do not need HSK to start learning Chinese in China — and several scholarships pay you to do it.
Quick answer
Entry requirements
Most university Chinese language centres accept complete beginners for their one-semester and one-year programmes. The Confucius Institute Scholarship asks for HSK 2 (or equivalent) for language study, which is roughly 150–300 hours of prior study — but some host universities accept absolute beginners through partner-institution nominations.
Self-funded language courses run in spring (March), summer (June or July), autumn (September) and winter (December) intakes at most universities, with tuition around CNY 10,000–14,000 per semester.
The CSC preparatory year
Undergraduate CSC scholarship holders who do not have sufficient Chinese on entry must complete one academic year of Chinese language training at one of ten designated universities and pass the required test before starting their major. Failing that test terminates the scholarship.
For master's and doctoral scholarship holders on Chinese-taught programmes, one to two years of preparatory language training may be required depending on the host university's standard.
What level you actually need
The working thresholds most commonly used by Chinese universities are HSK 3 for language training and general scholar programmes, HSK 4 for Chinese-taught master's and doctoral degrees, and HSK 5 for Chinese-taught bachelor's degrees in most competitive universities. HSK 6 is expected for programmes in Chinese literature, law and journalism.
Note that the HSK framework is being revised to a six-band, nine-level system (HSK 3.0) with a stronger speaking component. Universities have been phasing in the new levels, so always check which version your target programme references.