YCT (Youth Chinese Test)

Youth Chinese Test (YCT),an international standardized test of Chinese language proficiency, assesses the primary and middle school students' abilities to use Chinese as second language in their daily and academic lives. The test is reserved for students under the age of 15.

What is the YCT test?

The new YCT (Youth Chinese Test) was created by Hanban in order to encourage young foreign students, aged 15 and under, to learn and improve their knowledge of the Chinese language.

To achieve this goal, starting from 2004, Hanban has selected a team of experts in different disciplines - teaching Chinese as a foreign language, linguistics, psychology and educational sciences - to develop a standard of Chinese language competence for even the most young people and investigate the latest trends in teaching and learning the Chinese language for non-native Chinese speakers.

The levels of the YCT test

The YCT provides 4 levels of increasing difficulty, each of which consists of two parts: Listening Comprehension and Reading Comprehension.

YCT level I (certifies knowledge of 80 characters)
Level YCT II (certifies knowledge of 150 characters)
Level YCT III (certifies knowledge of 300 characters)
Level YCT IV (certifies knowledge of 600 characters)
For more information on each exam level, you can consult the information sheets available in the attachment (for each level) or consult the official reference site of the Hanban Chinese Test Center.

What is the YCT test for?

The test is internationally recognized, and it is in line with the Chinese Language Proficiency Scales for Speakers of Other Languages ​​and with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

The purpose of the test is to evaluate the knowledge of the Chinese language and the ability to use it in daily life. The test is aimed exclusively at foreign students, not Chinese native speakers, aged 15 and under.

Participation requirements

Registration for the exam is reserved for candidates under the age of 15. Candidates must not be 15 years old at the time of taking the test.

Take the YCT test at the Confucius Institute at the University of Bologna

The Confucius Institute of the University of Bologna informs you that the exam sessions for 2024 are scheduled as follow:

  •  I SESSION: Saturday 11 May 2024

 The exam will be in presence.

Tests in Presence

Exam date: May 11, 2024, registration are open

Registration deadline: April 11, 2024

Tests timetable:

YCT 1 at 9.00 AM

YCT 2 at 9.00 AM

YCT 3 at 9.00 AM

YCT 4 at 9.00 AM

How to register

It is specified that, in order to make a valid registration for HSK exams through the Confucius Institute of the University of Bologna, it is mandatory to proceed with the subscription through the link Iscrizioni esami YCT 11 maggio and following the procedures described below. The Confucius Institute of the University of Bologna directly manages registrations for the test, therefore registrations made directly through the chinesetest.cn website will NOT be taken into account. It is possible to register for only one exam level.

Registration has to be done exclusively by email.

RECOGNITION OF THE CANDIDATE: the candidate must also submit these documents.

  • 1 passport-size photo strictly in color and with a white background, saved in jpg or png format, dimensions between 20kb and 500kb (N.B. the passport photo must have been taken no more than 6 months before the registration delivery date);
  • photocopy of a valid identity document (only CI or Passport are allowed).
  • Informed consent signed by the parents / legal guardian  (form available in annex).

Once the office has received and screened all the documents, candidates will be confirmed that the registration has been taken over.

In the email containing the registration, it is mandatory to indicate in the subject: YCT EXAMS + YCT level and HSKK + Surname of the candidate (Ex. YCT - YCT 1 - Smith).

All the required documents must be sent to the student office via email by the mandatory deadline of April 11, 2024. Under no circumstances registrations sent after the deadline or in ways other than those indicated will be accepted. It is specified that, if the registration is incomplete or sent after the deadline, the exam fee cannot be refunded under any circumstances.

Close to the examination date, the Institute will send personal admission tickets and passwords (both required to authenticate the date of the exam) exclusively to the email address indicated during the registration process. Once you have received the admission ticket, please check the accuracy of the personal data contained therein and contact the Confucius office as soon as possible, via email, in case of any mistakes.

Registration fees

The registration fee must be paid by bank transfer to the bank details on the registration site, which will be made available to you once the registration is completed.

The REGISTRATION FEE changes depending on the exam level for which you are enrolling

YCT 1  payment of € 5.00.

YCT 2  payment of € 10.00.

YCT 3 payment of € 15.00. 

YCT 4 payment of € 20.00.

Original Diploma 

We remind all those who will carry out / have carried out the test at the Ci at the University of Bologna that the original YCT diplomas are, normally, available about two months after the exam date. Certificates are shipped directly from the Chinese Test Center to our office. All interested parties receive instructions by email to collect their certificate.

We remind everyone that the Confucius Institute does NOT send the original diploma at student's home: it is mandatory to collect it at our office.

We remind you that the Confucius Institute keeps the certificates for 2 years (starting from the date of the test), period within the original diploma must be collected.