Pass the CSCA.
Practice what the exam actually tests.
Free question bank and mock exams for the China Scholastic Competency Assessment, the entrance exam for international undergraduates in China. Its math, physics and chemistry come straight from the Chinese high-school curriculum; we map every question to the official syllabus and independently verify every answer.
The CSCA is the Chinese high-school curriculum
CSCA math, physics and chemistry are drawn almost entirely from Years 10-11 of China’s national high-school curriculum, the same material Chinese students spend years mastering. We built our bank on it and mapped every CSCA topic to it.
Same content, high-school level
Sets, functions, sequences, trigonometry, analytic geometry, vectors, complex numbers, probability. Nothing beyond the Chinese Year-11 curriculum.
Same format
48 single-choice questions in 60 minutes, mirroring the structure and difficulty of the curriculum’s own exams.
We mapped the real scope
The official syllabus is too narrow: many real questions fall outside it. We rebuilt the true syllabus from every sitting, then filtered the gaokao archives down to the 3,000+ real questions that match it.
Why practice here
Built from data, not marketing claims.
Every answer, fully explained
Step-by-step worked solutions on every question, not just an answer key. Learn why, not just what.
Independently verified
Every answer is independently re-solved and cross-checked against the answer key. Any disagreement is flagged for expert review. No unverified answers.
Only what is tested
We classified every question in the Chinese national curriculum against the official CSCA syllabus, so you never waste time on out-of-scope topics.
Free and open
The full question bank and mock exams are free. No paywalled PDFs, no locked answer keys.
Practice by subject
Single-choice questions with worked solutions, filtered to the CSCA difficulty band.
Chinese Language
Single-choice questions with worked solutions.
Mathematics
Single-choice questions with worked solutions.
Physics
Single-choice questions with worked solutions.
Chemistry
Single-choice questions with worked solutions.
What is the CSCA?
The China Scholastic Competency Assessment (来华留学生学业能力测试) is the standardized entrance exam for international students applying to undergraduate programs in China.
One exam, most universities
Replaces the fragmented per-university entrance tests. Piloted December 2025, expanding through 2026-2028.
Five subjects, all multiple-choice
Math, Physics, Chemistry (Chinese or English) plus Chinese proficiency. 48 single-choice questions in 60 minutes for STEM subjects.
High-school level scope
Content maps to the Chinese national curriculum, exactly what our question bank is built from.
Miss one question, master the whole pattern Premium
Every question links to its lookalikes: same topic, same trap, a different disguise.
Get it wrong
A wrong answer is a signal, not a failure: it names the exact pattern you have not locked in yet.
See its siblings
The similar-question graph surfaces up to five variations of the same pattern, drawn from real papers and our calibrated bank.
Drill until it sticks
One click queues them all. Repetition with variation is how exam patterns become reflexes.
CSCA questions, answered
What is the CSCA and who needs it?
The China Scholastic Competency Assessment is the standardised entrance exam for international students applying to undergraduate programmes in China. From the 2026/2027 intake, applicants are expected to take it before submitting applications. It applies to foreign passport holders; students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese use a separate joint-admission exam instead.
Which subjects do I need to take?
There are four subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and academic Chinese (humanities or STEM version). Which ones you need depends on how you apply. Self-funded applicants take Mathematics, and add the Chinese subject only for Chinese-taught programmes: for example, English-taught humanities and business programmes usually ask for Mathematics only, English-taught engineering adds Physics or Chemistry, and medicine usually asks for all three sciences. For Chinese Government Scholarship applicants, csca.cn lists Mathematics and the Chinese subject as required and gives no exception for English-taught programmes; some universities' subject lists for English-taught programmes leave out Chinese, so scholarship applicants should confirm with the university. Each STEM paper is 48 single-choice questions in 60 minutes, no calculator, no penalty for wrong answers.
English paper or Chinese paper, and does the English track need the Chinese subject?
The paper language is decided by your target programme's teaching language. Chinese-taught programmes require the Chinese-language paper; English-taught programmes take the English paper. Self-funded applicants to English-taught programmes take only the STEM subjects and no Chinese subject (IELTS is still required); Chinese Government Scholarship applicants also take the Chinese subject, according to csca.cn. Some universities accept either language, so confirm with your target school directly.
What score do I need?
There is no official pass mark. The CSCA score is one input in a competitive review: each university and scholarship sets its own bar, and it moves with the applicant pool each year; even near-perfect scores have been rejected by top programmes. Admissions also weigh GPA, language certificates, interviews and your portfolio. So the useful question is not "how many points are enough" but "what does my target programme ask for this year". Check its admission page directly.
How often is it held, and can I retake it?
Six sittings a year: November, December, January, March, April and June. Each sitting has its own registration window on csca.cn, and it can be short (7 days for November 2026), so check early. Retaking is normal and most universities count your best score, though policies vary by school. A retake means paying the fee again and reinstalling the latest exam software.
How hard is it, really?
It stays at Chinese high-school level (up to Year 11) and covers far less than the full curriculum. Our Exam Insights page shows exactly which topics appear and how often.
How do I register, and how much does it cost?
Register on csca.cn with your passport (name exactly as printed), upload a digital ID photo, pick your subjects and pay: ¥450 for a single subject or ¥700 total for two or more, via Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay, Visa or Mastercard. Unpaid registrations are void, and subjects and personal details cannot be changed after payment, so double-check before you pay.
Do I still need HSK or IELTS?
Yes: the CSCA does not replace language certificates. Chinese-taught programmes usually require HSK 4-5; English-taught programmes require IELTS (around 6.0) and no HSK. The CSCA Chinese subject tests academic Chinese, which is not the same thing as HSK. One known exception: applicants to Chinese-language majors holding HSK 4 may be exempt from the CSCA Chinese subject. Confirm with your target university.
How does the CSCA relate to scholarships (CSC)?
CSCA scores now feed into the review for the Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC Type A/B) and many university, provincial and Belt & Road scholarships. Bear in mind it is one input among several: GPA, language certificates, interview and portfolio all count, and a strong score does not guarantee an award. Partial (e.g. 50%) scholarships are markedly easier to win than full ones.
What happens on exam day, and what software do I need?
The exam runs as a proctored home test or at designated test centres, depending on the sitting. In the week before: install the latest official exam software (remove old versions; Windows laptop/desktop recommended, iPads do not work), print your Admission Ticket, and join the official mock test to check your camera, network and room setup (a 360° room scan is required). The timetable is published in Beijing time, so convert it carefully to your timezone; missing the slot because of timezone confusion is a real and common mistake.
When do results come out?
Within 10 working days of the exam, in your account on csca.cn. This applies from the November 2026 sitting; earlier sittings took about seven working days. Results include your global percentile and are valid for two years.
Where can I take the CSCA: online or at a test centre?
Both exist: proctored online at home, or in-person at designated centres. In China these have included Tongji University (Shanghai), Central University of Finance and Economics (Beijing) and Nanjing Normal University, among others. Which centres and cities are open is announced per sitting on csca.cn.
How is CSCA Start different from a textbook or a syllabus PDF?
Everything here is built from measured real past papers, not summarised syllabus documents: topic weights, difficulty bands and question style all come from tagging real sittings. Every question ships with a full worked solution, and independent checking happens before anything is published.
What do the Easy / Intermediate / Hard labels mean?
They are our own bands, calibrated by tagging the real papers, per subject: Easy matches the fundamentals that make up the bulk of each sitting, Intermediate is standard exam level, and Hard covers the thin tail of genuinely difficult questions. Filter the bank by band to spend time where the paper spends its marks.
Does the mock exam look like the real CSCA software?
Timed mocks run in a faithful recreation of the official computer-based interface (blue header with countdown, candidate panel, question-number grid, mark-for-review and font-size controls), plus what the official software never gives you: instant grading, a wrong-answer review and full worked solutions. By exam day the interface should feel routine, not novel.
Can I download practice material as PDF?
Yes: free PDF sample papers, no sign-up needed. 48-question papers for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, built to the real exam format, plus 10-question sample sets for both Chinese tracks, all with full worked solutions.
CSCA policies, sittings and school requirements change often, so always confirm with csca.cn and your target university's official notices.
Free practice is where you start, not where you stop
For candidates who want help with university choice and the application after practising.