Correction: The HSK Revamp is Still a Long Ways Off

Last year, news broke that Chinese Ministry of Education officials were gearing up to revamp both the HSK system and its associated exams. At the time, no concrete date for the updates was announced, however, that all changed earlier this month when multiple media outlets, including this one, reported that the new system would be implemented on Jul 1, 2021. Unfortunately, either the original announcement wasn't clearly written, or everyone is terrible at reading both Chinese and English because somehow, we all got it horribly wrong.

As a result, last Tuesday, Apr 20, officials from China's Ministry of Education, as well as university professors and other Chinese language educators addressed the (accidental) fake news. According to the WeChat account, Chinese Teaching International – which was picked up by the folks over at Culture Yard – the group of education insiders explained that seeing as how the revised exams haven't even been created yet, new HSK 1-6 tests are still three to five years off, while a new HSK 7-9 curriculum will begin trials in December of this year, with a proposed launch date of March 2022.

Apparently, the confusion was down to a sentence about new standards going into effect on... yes, Jul 1... that will affect policies and procedures underpinning Chinese education in a more comprehensive, global context, and not the HSK system, specifically. Those standards do, ultimately serve as a guiding principle for the HSK system, however, the adjustments will be implemented more gradually, allowing time for ample feedback and tweaks to the system.

So, to summarize, if you're anywhere between HSK 1-6, there's nothing to worry about right now. And if you're HSK 7-9, you have until (roughly) December 2021 or March 2022 to get all your tests done.

Want some language lessons that aren't covered in any of the HSK levels or exams? Check out our Mandarin Monday column, which is chock-full of authentic Chinese that probably isn't covered in your textbooks.

Read: China's HSK Language Test To be Overhauled for the First Time in 11 Years

Image: EasyMandarin Chinese School