How many words are in HSK 3?

Under the exam syllabus in force since 1 July 2026, 1,000 words cumulatively. The old HSK 2.0 exam put 600 words at level 3, and the 2021 proficiency standard — whose figures circulated as “HSK 3.0” for five years — puts 2,245. All three are correct: they are three different documents.

What is the difference between HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0?

Nine levels instead of six. The top band went from 5,000 words to 11,000, while the entry level doubled from 150 words to 300. Handwriting is now a separate, smaller requirement: 3,088 characters to recognise against 1,200 to write by hand.

Which exam is being administered right now?

The new syllabus took effect on 1 July 2026, but the changeover is gradual and through 2026 many centres still offer both. What you can actually sit on a given date shows up at registration on chinesetest.cn, not in general overviews like this one.

How many characters do I need to write by hand?

Far fewer than you need to read: 1200 of the 3088 characters in the syllabus. Levels 1 and 2 share a single list of 100 characters.

HSK levels: words, characters and what changed in 2026

HSK (汉语水平考试, Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì) is China’s official Chinese proficiency exam for non-native speakers. Since 1 July 2026 it runs on a new syllabus: nine levels instead of six, and different word counts at every one of them.

The numbers below were counted from the official syllabus itself — a 406-page PDF — rather than copied from summaries. That matters here more than usual, because the summaries disagree with each other.

What changed on 1 July 2026

01Nine levels, three bands. Elementary (1–3), intermediate (4–6), advanced (7–9). Levels 7, 8 and 9 are sat as a single exam.
02Bigger at both ends. Level 1 doubled from 150 words to 300; the ceiling rose from 5,000 to 11,000.
03Reading and writing are separate lists. 3,088 characters to recognise, 1,200 to write by hand.
04The changeover is gradual. Through 2026 many test centres offer both exams. Check at registration, not in overviews — this one included.

HSK 3.0 levels at a glance

Cumulative figures: level 4 is also tested on everything below it. Counted from the official syllabus (「HSK 考试大纲」, published November 2025, in force from July 2026).

Level	Words	Characters to read	Of those, to write	New words
HSK 1	300	246	—	+300
HSK 2	500	371	100	+200
HSK 3	1,000	655	250	+500
HSK 4	2,000	1,096	400	+1,000
HSK 5	3,600	1,527	550	+1,600
HSK 6	5,400	1,940	700	+1,800
HSK 7–9	11,000	3,088	1,200	+5,600

The dash is not a gap in the data: level 1 has no handwriting list of its own. It shares one with level 2, a hundred characters covering both.

Why you will find three different answers to “how many words is HSK 3”

Because three separate documents go by the name HSK, and most pages quote one of them without saying which.

The HSK 2.0 exam: In use from 2010 to mid-2026. Six levels, 5,000 words at the top. Almost every textbook and course still in circulation was built for it.
The 2021 standard (GF 0025-2021): Not an exam — a description of proficiency levels, published by China’s Ministry of Education: three bands, nine levels. Its figures are the ones that spread as “HSK 3.0” between 2021 and 2025, which is where “HSK 1 has 500 words” comes from. It totals 11,092 words, 3,000 characters, 1,110 syllables and 572 grammar points.
The 2026 exam syllabus: Published November 2025, in force since 1 July 2026. Nine levels as in the standard, but noticeably fewer words at the lower ones — 300 at level 1 rather than 500. This is the HSK people actually sit.

Cumulative word counts by document
Level	HSK 2.0 exam	2021 standard	2026 exam
HSK 1	150	500	300
HSK 2	300	1,272	500
HSK 3	600	2,245	1,000
HSK 4	1,200	3,245	2,000
HSK 5	2,500	4,316	3,600
HSK 6	5,000	5,456	5,400
HSK 7–9	—	11,092	11,000

The right-hand column is the exam in force. The other two are here because you will meet them in textbooks and articles, and without them the numbers look like errors.

Frequently asked

How many words are in HSK 3?: Under the exam syllabus in force since 1 July 2026, 1,000 words cumulatively. The old HSK 2.0 exam put 600 words at level 3, and the 2021 proficiency standard — whose figures circulated as “HSK 3.0” for five years — puts 2,245. All three are correct: they are three different documents.
What is the difference between HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0?: Nine levels instead of six. The top band went from 5,000 words to 11,000, while the entry level doubled from 150 words to 300. Handwriting is now a separate, smaller requirement: 3,088 characters to recognise against 1,200 to write by hand.
Which exam is being administered right now?: The new syllabus took effect on 1 July 2026, but the changeover is gradual and through 2026 many centres still offer both. What you can actually sit on a given date shows up at registration on chinesetest.cn, not in general overviews like this one.
How many characters do I need to write by hand?: Far fewer than you need to read: 1200 of the 3088 characters in the syllabus. Levels 1 and 2 share a single list of 100 characters.