Chinese Government Scholarship eligibility: age limits, HSK levels and the CSCA test

To be eligible for the Chinese Government Scholarship you must be a citizen of a country other than the People's Republic of China, be in good health, and fall under the age limit for your study level: under 25 for a bachelor's programme, under 35 for a master's, under 40 for a doctorate, under 45 as a general scholar and under 50 as a senior scholar. Chinese-taught programmes add an HSK requirement, and bachelor's applicants must take the CSCA.

Age and prior qualification

Applying for	Must hold	Age limit
Bachelor's programme	High school diploma or its equivalent	Under 25
Master's programme	Bachelor's degree or its equivalent	Under 35
Doctoral programme	Master's degree or its equivalent	Under 40
General scholar programme	High school diploma or higher	Under 45
Senior scholar programme	Master's degree, or the rank of associate professor or above	Under 50

For the three degree levels the guide also asks that the applicant be "academically excellent".

Language requirements

Programme	Requirement in the guide
Chinese-taught master's or doctoral programme	Passed HSK Level 4
Chinese-taught general scholar programme, other than Chinese language majors	Passed HSK Level 3
Chinese-taught senior scholar programme	Passed HSK Level 3
Programme taught in a language other than Chinese	Meet the admission requirements of the university of preference for language proficiency and academic ability

For programmes taught in other languages, the guide's document list asks for a language certificate such as an IELTS or TOEFL score report "in accordance with the requirements of each university". The guide sets no score of its own.

The CSCA for bachelor's applicants

Applicants for bachelor's programmes must take the China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA) and upload a valid score report. The guide adds two points in its document list: the test must be taken before the application deadline, and the required test subjects depend on the major, so applicants are told to ask the target institution which subjects it needs. The guide gives www.csca.cn as the test's official website.

Questions people ask

Is there an HSK requirement for a Chinese-taught bachelor's programme?

The guide's eligibility list does not state an HSK level for bachelor's programmes. What it requires of bachelor's applicants is the CSCA score report. A university may still set its own language condition, so check with the university.

Do I need HSK if my programme is taught in English?

The guide does not ask for HSK in that case. It asks you to meet the university's own language and academic requirements and to submit the language certificate that university requires.

Are the age limits the same for every route?

The guide states one eligibility list for the Chinese Government Scholarship. Other scholarships listed by the CSC set their own limits. The MOFCOM Scholarship, for instance, is for applicants under 45.

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Source: Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, Campus China (China Scholarship Council); MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program (Enrollment Guide), Campus China. Checked 10 October 2026. This page is an unofficial summary and is not published by the CSC.