HSK 3.0 Level 2: The Paper That Adds Writing

On the documents that specify it, Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) 3.0 Level 2 is the first written sample that adds a handwriting section. The 2025 syllabus adds 200 new words and ends that slice at cumulative number 500. The written sample is 60 items and about 60 minutes, and 10 of those items are handwriting, 书写 (shūxiě), given 10 minutes. The live English Level 2 page on the same publisher's site still describes a 60-item paper of listening and reading only, about 55 minutes, with no writing section. The rest of this page says which document prints each figure.

The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) is named, on the one-page competency file published with the syllabus, as a national standardized test. The Chinese line is 中文水平考试/HSK 是一项国家级标准化考试，重点考查中文作为第二语言的考生在生活、学习和工作中运用中文进行交际的能力。 In plain words, the exam checks communicative ability in Chinese as a second language, in life, study, and work. The counts below come from the syllabus and the sample files.

The competency file and the syllabus were compiled by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC). CTI Co., Ltd. publishes the HSK overview that links those downloads. The overview calls the revision a "Three Stages, Nine Levels" framework, covering elementary, intermediate, and advanced proficiency, and it does not assign the digits 1-3, 4-6, or 7-9 to those stages. It does not print this level's word count, item count, or minutes.

One numbered list. The total at each rung is the last sequence number of that slice. Level 2 is entries 301 to 500.

What still ranks for this level

On 20 October 2026 the pages compared for "new hsk 2" were Mandarin Zone's Level 2 guide, Pass HSK's Level 2 requirements page, Hack Chinese's old-versus-new page, Coco Chinese's HSK 2 study plan, and Chill Chinese's HSK 3.0 overview. None of them sets three documents side by side. The sample cover is 60 items and about 60 minutes: listening 25 and about 17, reading 25 and 25, and 书写 10 and 10. The live CTI English Level 2 page is 60 items, listening and reading only, about 55 minutes, with no writing. The answer key numbers writing 54-63. The paper numbers writing 51-60.

Those five pages are third party. Mandarin Zone prints 600 cumulative words. The syllabus slice is 200 new entries, cumulative number 500. It also says writing tests only the 100 shared characters, and that you write in the missing piece. The letter boxes on items 51-55 contradict the missing-piece claim. 洗 (xǐ) on the key contradicts the 100-character claim. Pass HSK prints a speaking line, and the sample set has no Level 2 speaking file. Hack Chinese prints 500 words and does not walk the cover. Coco Chinese's writing row says None, and it prints 497 cumulative words for a July 2026 syllabus. Chill Chinese prints 200 new and 500 total, with no writing walk.

The competency line

The same one-page file states Level 2 in one sentence: HSK（二级）能用中文就生活、学习、工作场景进行基本交流。 A close English gloss, not an official translation, is: can handle basic communication in everyday life, study, and work. The file does not attach a score or a study-time estimate to that sentence.

The HSK overview says the new test is guided by the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education. This site refers to that 2021 standard as GF 0025-2021. The 2009 introduction of the six-level written test lists 300 words for its Level 2. That 2021 standard is a different document. The three-column comparison is in Chinese Vocabulary Size vs HSK Level.

200 new words, cumulative number 500

The vocabulary outline is one numbered list from 1 to 11,000. Level 2 is the slice tagged 2, numbers 301 through 500: 200 new entries, and the cumulative figure is that last number. Number 300, the end of the previous slice, is 做饭. Number 301 is 啊, with the pinyin column printing "a". Pinyin is the official romanization used in China, Singapore, and the United Nations. The syllabus marks 啊 as 助, a particle. The slice ends at 500, 左边. Number 501, 阿姨, starts the next slice. A few rows carry a tag such as 2（4） or 2（7-9） and still sit inside 301-500. This page does not count them again.

The syllabus cover prints 2025-11 发布 and 2026-07 实施, from 中外语言交流合作中心. The 2026-07 line is an implementation date, not the exam date. The launch notice sets the worldwide launch on 13 December 2026. The Level 2 word list prints zuǒbian for 左边. The PDF row itself was not clean enough to quote that pinyin.

125 characters to recognize, and one shared handwriting list

Character lists are separate from the word list, and each restarts at 1. A Chinese character (字, zì) is one written sign. A word (词, cí) can be one character or several. Chinese Characters vs Words is the page for that distinction. The 500 vocabulary entries are not 500 characters.

The Level 2 recognition list, 认读字 (rèndúzì), has 125 items, from 1. 啊 to 125. 左. Number 98 on that list is 洗. The handwriting list does not restart for Level 2. Levels 1 and 2 share one list, headed HSK（一级）~（二级）书写字, with 100 characters, from 1. 爱 to 100. 作. There is no separate Level 2 handwriting list.

Each recognition list restarts at 1. The syllabus does not print 371. The handwriting total through Level 2 is the shared list of 100.

Adding the Level 1 recognition list, 246 characters, to these 125 gives 371. The handwriting sum through Level 2 is the same 100. The syllabus does not print either sum.

The written sample: 60 items, about 60 minutes

Every level's cover, set beside the English pages that are still live, is in HSK 3.0 Exam Format. This section repeats only Level 2.

The written sample is HSK/HSK（二级）样卷.pdf in the official sample set linked from the HSK overview. CLEC compiled it. The cover says three parts and 60 items. Listening, 听力 (tīnglì), is 25 items and about 17 minutes. Reading, 阅读 (yuèdú), is 25 items and 25 minutes. The third section is 书写, 10 items and 10 minutes. The Level 4 sample names that section 写作 (xiězuò). The Level 4 paper is in HSK 3.0 Level 4: Words, Paper, and Speaking. After listening there are 3 minutes to fill the answer sheet. The whole exam is about 60 minutes, including 5 minutes for personal information.

The cover places the answer sheet after listening and does not place the personal-information minutes. Adding the printed figures gives about 17 + 25 + 10 + 3 + 5 = 60. The cover says 约, "about", on the listening block and on the total, so this is addition, not a timed recording. This page does not time the audio file.

About 17 + 25 + 10 + 3 + 5 = 60. Personal information is inside that total, and the cover does not place those 5 minutes.

The English Level 2 page, fetched on 20 October 2026, still describes another paper. It does not call that paper HSK 2.0. This site uses HSK 2.0 for the six-level written test that page is still describing. The prose is listening and reading only, about 55 minutes including 5 for personal information. The table on the same page is about 50 minutes and has no writing row. Local start time on that page is 09:00. The 5 minutes between the prose and the table are the personal-information minutes the prose names. They do not explain the sample.

Document	Level 2 as that document prints it
CTI English page, prose	60 items. About 55 minutes, including 5 for personal information. Listening and reading only. No writing section.
CTI English page, table	60 items. About 50 minutes. Listening 35 / about 25. Answer sheet 3. Reading 25 / 22. No writing row.
Level 2 sample cover	60 items. About 60 minutes, including 5 for personal information. Listening 25 / about 17. Answer sheet 3 after listening. Reading 25 / 25. Handwriting 10 / 10.

Nothing read for this page says the 13 December 2026 sitting will use the sample cover or the English page. The score paragraph on the English page belongs to the paper that page describes: listening, reading, and total, a full score of 200, and 120 or above described as a passing mark. It says those scores are valid for two years, starting from the day of the exam. The sample cover and the launch notice do not print 120, 200, or a validity period. No pass mark for the 3.0 sample was in the files read for this page.

Four task shapes on the 60-item sample

Listening is three 部分, and 5 + 10 + 10 = 25. Items 1-5 are three pictures, A, B, and C, with no words on the page. The example marks A. Items 6-15 are the second 部分. For items 6-10 the page prints pictures A through F once, and only the example dialogue: 你喜欢什么运动 and 我最喜欢踢足球, marked D. Items 6-10 are empty boxes. Items 11-15 are pictures A through E and no printed sentence. Items 16-25 are a short dialogue, a question, and three written choices. The example is 给您笔，请在这儿写一下您的姓名, the question is 女的要写什么, and the marked choice is A 姓名. The paper does not say the recording is played twice.

Reading is four 部分. The ranges 26-30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-45, and 46-50 are five groups of five. A divider says 下面是阅读部分 and 请在阅读考试开始后作答. Items 26-30 match a sentence to one of six pictures. The example 每个星期六，我都去打篮球 marks D. Items 31-35 use six words, 跟, 打车, 从小, 楼, 多, and 远, and the example blank takes E, 多. Items 36-40 match a sentence to six printed sentences. The example 他出去了，一会儿就回来 is marked E. Items 41-45 continue that 部分 with five options and no new part heading. Items 46-50 are a short text and three choices. The example is about 跳舞 and marks 喜欢跳舞.

Listening is 5 + 10 + 10 = 25. Reading is 5 × 5 = 25. The 10 handwriting minutes stay one block.

Handwriting is items 51-60, in two 部分. The cover gives all 10 of them 10 minutes. A divider says 下面是书写部分 and 请在书写考试开始后作答.

Items 51-55 print six components: A 寸, B 子, C 日, D 文, E 十, F 氵. Each item is an incomplete two-character word, with pinyin over both characters, and an empty box. The example shows 什 missing 十, beside 么, with an arrow to 什么, and the box shows E. The answer key's first writing part is letters, so the marked answer is a letter, not a drawn stroke. 子, 日, 文, and 十 are on the shared list of 100, at 97, 58, 76, and 64. 寸 and 氵 are not on that list, and they are not among the 125 Level 2 recognition characters.

Items 56-60 leave one character blank, with that character's pinyin above it. The example is 你想喝茶还（是）喝咖啡？ Item 60 prints xǐ over the blank in 儿子，（ ）完手再吃苹果吧.

The answer key, HSK/HSK（二级）样卷答案.pdf, numbers writing differently. Its first part runs 54 to 58 and gives letters. Its second part runs 59 to 63 and gives characters, ending in 洗. The paper numbers those tasks 51-60. Use the paper for the ranges. 洗 is recognition character 98 and is not one of the 100 handwriting characters. The key states no full score and no pass mark.

No speaking paper at Level 2

Levels 1 and 2 have no speaking paper in the official sample set. The set's speaking folder has separate files for Levels 3, 4, 5, and 6 only. There is no Level 2 speaking PDF and no Level 2 speaking audio. Who takes a speaking paper, and what those papers contain, is in HSK 3.0 Speaking Test.

The HSK Speaking Test (HSKK) overview says that test assesses oral Chinese, has three levels (elementary, intermediate, and advanced), and is an audio recording. The page fetched on 20 October 2026 states no item counts and no minutes. The second-trial fee table equates Levels 3 to 6, each plus its speaking test, with an HSK level plus an HSKK level, and says the fees for HSK（一级） and HSK（二级） are unchanged. That line has no currency amount.

No Level 2 speaking file. The 20 September 2026 trial gives Level 2 one sitting at 9:00, about 60 minutes, and no speaking row. Levels 3 to 6 register with speaking on that trial only.

The September trial is not the December sitting

The notice at chinesetest.cn/notice, titled HSK3.0第二轮全球试行考试通知, is the second global trial on 20 September 2026. A note says the times on that notice are local, that a paper exam includes 5 minutes for personal information and 3 to 5 minutes for the answer sheet, and that speaking includes preparation. The sample cover says 3 minutes for the answer sheet, not 3 to 5. Score reports for this trial are valid for two years. All of that is about 20 September 2026.

The launch notice does not copy those rules onto 13 December 2026. It names no sections, pass mark, start time, or speaking pairing, and it does not choose between the sample cover and the English page. The date and the Beijing-time registration windows are in Should You Take HSK 2.0 or HSK 3.0 in 2026?.

How to check recognition

The list, the recognition test, and the sample paper answer different questions.

The Level 2 word list is the 200 new entries, numbers 301 to 500. Chinese Copilot's free HSK 3.0 level test is a recognition estimate: 119 words drawn fresh each run, 17 from each of Levels 1 to 6 and 17 from the combined Levels 7-9 list. You mark whether you recognize the word. There is no account. Answers stay in the browser. It typically takes 5-10 minutes. The result is an approximate level from 1 to 6, or the combined HSK 7-9 range, plus a stage: Elementary (初等), Intermediate (中等), or Advanced (高等). That stage is the label this test returns, not a digit map from the overview. The test does not measure listening, speaking, timed reading, or handwriting, and it is not an official exam, a score, or a pass. It does not include the 10 handwriting items. The word source and the thresholds are on the methodology page. Nothing read for this page says how many months the level takes.

The list is the 200 entries. The test is a recognition estimate. The sample is the 60-item paper, and it has no speaking file.

For single words, the Chinese word dictionary has entries with pinyin, senses and example sentences. Level 2 words to start with: 一起, 上面 and 下来.

More on the new exam, level by level, is in our HSK 3.0 guide.

Sources

• Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, English Wikipedia. Secondary overview of the exam's name. Not a source for word counts, item counts, or minutes.
• HSK overview: About the New HSK, CTI Co., Ltd., chinesetest.cn, fetched 20 October 2026. Three stages and nine levels without a digit map, five syllabus components, and the link to the sample set. No Level 2 item count on this page.
• HSK 3.0 competency descriptions, Center for Language Education and Cooperation, one-page PDF. The national-test sentence and the Level 2 competency line. English glosses in this post are not a second official text.
• Pinyin, English Wikipedia. Secondary overview of the romanization beside the syllabus entry 啊.
• Syllabus for the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), Center for Language Education and Cooperation, cover 2025-11 发布, 2026-07 实施. Vocabulary numbers 301-500, the Level 2 recognition list of 125, and the shared Levels 1-2 handwriting list of 100.
• Chinese characters, English Wikipedia. Secondary overview of 字, beside the character lists.
• HSK (Level 2), chinesetest.cn, fetched 20 October 2026. The 60-item prose with no writing section, the table of about 50 minutes, the 09:00 local start, and the 120/200 and two-year lines for the paper that page describes.
• Introduction to the New HSK (2009), chinesetest.cn. The six-level written test's vocabulary cell of 300 words for its Level 2. Not the 2025 list.
• HSK 3.0 will be officially launched worldwide on December 13, 2026, CTI notice. Test date and Beijing-time registration windows. No paper structure, pass mark, pairing rule, or score validity.
• HSK 3.0 second global trial notice, chinesetest.cn, in Chinese. The 20 September 2026 trial: Level 2 at 9:00 local time for about 60 minutes with no speaking row, the pairing rule for levels 3-6, unchanged fees for levels 1 and 2, and two-year validity for that trial's score reports.
• HSK Speaking Test (HSKK), chinesetest.cn, fetched 20 October 2026. Three levels and an audio recording. No item counts or minutes.
• Level 2 files inside the official sample set linked from the HSK overview: HSK/HSK（二级）样卷.pdf (60 items, about 60 minutes, and the task headings above) and HSK/HSK（二级）样卷答案.pdf (writing numbered 54-63, ending in 洗, no score). Read 20 October 2026. The set has no Level 2 speaking file. Not rehosted here.
• Third-party pages compared on 20 October 2026, and not used as the source of official counts: Mandarin Zone, New HSK 2, Pass HSK, HSK 2 requirements, Hack Chinese, old vs new HSK, Coco Chinese, HSK 2 study plan, Chill Chinese, the new HSK.