What the official pages say
The CSCA official website and official notices set out only two kinds of rules: which subjects are compulsory and which are optional. Nowhere in the whole document do terms such as "exemption", "waiver" or "may be replaced by other results" appear.
One point needs to be clear from the start: the official documents answer the question "which subjects do you have to take", not "under what circumstances can you skip a subject". The absence of exemption clauses does not mean that an exemption exists by default; it only means that exemptions fall outside the scope of the official rules.
- Applying for a Chinese Government Scholarship undergraduate programme: Mathematics is compulsory, Major Chinese is compulsory (the category follows the university's programme requirements), and Physics and Chemistry are optional according to the university's programme requirements.
- Applying for other undergraduate programmes: Mathematics is compulsory; applicants to Chinese-taught programmes must choose Major Chinese; Physics and Chemistry are optional according to the university's programme requirements.
- So there is no exemption from Mathematics — every applicant has to take it.
Read a few words in these rules carefully
"Compulsory" has no alternative. This applies to the subject, not to the institution: change university, change programme, and you still have to take Mathematics.
"Optional" has to be read together with "according to the university's programme requirements". The official website does not provide a single unified list of optional subjects. Whether you need to take Physics or Chemistry is answered in your target university's admissions brochure, not on the official website.
Major Chinese is itself divided into categories, and the category is also decided by the university's programme requirements. So "do I need to take Major Chinese" and "which category of Major Chinese do I take" are two separate questions, and both have to be confirmed in the university's documentation.
The rules differ for the two groups of applicants. Chinese Government Scholarship undergraduate programmes and other undergraduate programmes are set out as two separate sets of rules. Confirm which group you belong to before reading the rules; otherwise it is easy to follow the wrong line.
Three "exemption" claims commonly seen online
- Claim 1: An HSK Level 4 score plus an application for a Chinese language major means you do not need to take Subject Chinese. Some universities and agencies say so; the official website does not.
- Claim 2: If you are in an English-taught programme, you do not need to take Subject Chinese. Under the official rules, when you apply to other undergraduate programmes, Subject Chinese is compulsory only for Chinese-taught programmes; but for applicants to the Chinese Government Scholarship undergraduate programme, the official website says Subject Chinese is compulsory.
- Claim 3: Having completed certain designated preparatory courses means you are exempt from the whole exam. We have found no basis for this on the official pages.
What is wrong with each of these three claims
The problem with Claim 1 is that a language score is not the same as a subject exemption. The official website does not link HSK scores to exemption from Subject Chinese; the two are governed by separate rules. Example: a student with an HSK Level 4 score who applies for a Chinese language major and decides not to register for Subject Chinese on the strength of this claim alone — while the target university's prospectus says the exam is required — will end up missing one subject score. What a university says verbally counts only once it is in a written reply.
The problem with Claim 2 is that it is only half right. In the "other undergraduate programmes" category, Subject Chinese is indeed compulsory only for Chinese-taught programmes; but if the same applicant goes through the Chinese Government Scholarship undergraduate programme, the official website says Subject Chinese is compulsory, with no distinction by language of instruction. So the key question is "which category am I applying under", not "is the course taught in English". Example: for the same English-taught programme, the Subject Chinese requirement differs between the "other undergraduate programmes" route and the "Chinese Government Scholarship undergraduate programme" route. Decide the category first, then look at the language of instruction; reversing that order makes it easy to judge wrongly.
The problem with Claim 3 is that there is no identifiable source. "We did not find a basis on the official pages" and "the official side explicitly denies it" are not the same thing, but both are handled in the same way: ask the other party to point to the specific document and clause; if they cannot, prepare on the basis that you must take the exam.
How to confirm whether you can take one fewer subject
- Look at the target university's prospectus for the current year and find the section that sets out the CSCA subject requirements. Note "current year" — previous years' prospectuses are for reference only.
- If the prospectus is not clear, email the admissions office and ask specific questions: which programme am I applying to, what is the language of instruction, do I need to take Subject Chinese, and which category do I fall under? Keep the written reply: save both the original email and screenshots, and note the date of the reply.
- If you are applying to several universities, confirm separately with each one, then register for all the subjects required by all of them combined. Because one exam's results can be used for multiple applications, take the "union" here rather than the "intersection": if School A requires Physics and School B requires Chemistry, register for both.
The most common mistake in step 3 is to use School A's admissions office reply to infer School B's. Two schools mean two prospectuses and two admissions offices, and the replies do not transfer.
Better to take one extra subject
- There is no limit on how many subjects you can register for at once; one subject costs RMB 450, and two or more subjects cost RMB 700.
- If you are unsure whether to take a subject, the cost of registering for one extra subject is usually smaller than the cost of being unable to apply because you lack a score.
- Scores are valid for two years, and there is no limit on the number of attempts.
The fee tiers themselves illustrate this approach: moving from one subject to two costs only an additional RMB 250, and two or more subjects fall into the same tier, so registering for three subjects costs the same as registering for two. In other words, registering once more for the subject you are unsure about costs a limited amount, whereas a missing subject score could directly block your application to a school. It is best to decide your subjects at the time of registration.
Mathematics is an unavoidable subject. You can first take a 15-minute diagnostic on CSCA.PRO to see which knowledge points you are losing marks on, then practise by knowledge point in the Learning Centre.