CSCA Exam 2027: What African Students Must Know Before Applying to Study in China

If you're planning a bachelor's degree in China for September 2027, there's a new step that most families in Nairobi, Harare and Lomé haven't heard of yet. It's called the CSCA. At more than 300 Chinese universities, your undergraduate application won't be reviewed without a CSCA score report.

Here's the short version. The CSCA is a multiple-choice exam. Maths is compulsory for everyone; Physics, Chemistry or Chinese depend on your course. It costs 450 yuan for one subject or 700 yuan for two or more, and most African students will sit it online from home. The next sittings are 19–20 December 2026 and 23–24 January 2027. If you want a Chinese Government Scholarship for 2027, one of those two dates is probably your best bet.

Below is everything in one place: who has to take it, what's on the paper, when and where you can sit it, and what it means for your CSC scholarship plans.

What is the CSCA exam?

CSCA stands for China Scholastic Competency Assessment. The China Scholarship Council introduced it in 2025 to give Chinese universities one common way to judge international undergraduate applicants.

Think of it as China's answer to the SAT, but narrower. It doesn't care how good your personal statement is. It checks whether your maths, science and (for some courses) Chinese are strong enough for first-year university work in China.

It matters for students from Africa because admissions officers in China see transcripts from dozens of school systems. A KCSE mean grade, ZIMSEC A-Level points and a Togolese BAC are hard to compare. A CSCA score out of 100 isn't. Your school results still count, but the CSCA now sits right next to them.

Who has to take the CSCA?

From the 2026 and 2027 intakes, you need it if you're applying for a bachelor's degree at any university that takes part in the Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) programme. That's a long list, from Peking University and Zhejiang University to many provincial universities. It also applies if you're paying your own fees: the rule follows the university, not the scholarship.

You don't need it if:

• you're applying for a master's or PhD,
• you're applying for a diploma, foundation, language or other non-degree course,
• your university isn't on the CSC list, or
• you completed the CSC preparatory programme at one of the designated preparatory universities and passed its graduation exam.

One thing parents should know: China plans to make the CSCA compulsory for all international undergraduates, at every university, from around 2028. So if your child is in Form 3 or Lower Six today, it will almost certainly apply to them.

CSCA subjects and exam format

Every question is multiple choice, and each subject is marked out of 100.

A few points that catch people out:

• English-taught degree? Skip the Chinese paper. Maths, Physics and Chemistry can all be written in English.
• Science, engineering, agriculture or medicine? You'll need at least one of Physics or Chemistry, and your university decides which. For MBBS, many medical schools ask for Maths plus Chemistry; Tongji and Wenzhou Medical University both want those two papers in English.
• The maths is high-school level, but it follows China's syllabus. Students who've sat it mention sequences, ellipses, slopes, trigonometry and odd and even functions. If you dropped maths after Form 2 or O-Level, start revising now.

CSCA exam dates 2026–2027

The official site, csca.cn, lists these sittings. Each one runs over two days: Chinese and Maths on day one, Physics and Chemistry on day two.

Registration usually opens about four weeks before a sitting and stays open for only about a week. The November 2026 window, for example, ran from 15 to 21 October. Set a reminder and check csca.cn regularly.

The January and March sittings are timed for candidates in Europe, Africa and the Americas. The December, April and June sittings are timed for Asia-Pacific, so on those dates you may be writing late at night. Check the start time on your admission ticket and convert it from Beijing time (Beijing is 5 hours ahead of Nairobi, 6 ahead of Harare and 8 ahead of Lomé).

CSCA fees and registration

• One subject: 450 yuan (about US$64)
• Two or more subjects in the same sitting: 700 yuan

You pay online by Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, Alipay or WeChat Pay. Registration happens only on csca.cn. Type the address yourself; several look-alike sites use "CSCA" in their names.

When you register:

1. Use your name exactly as it appears on your passport. A mismatch causes headaches when universities try to match your score to your application.
2. Pick the right programme language (English-taught or Chinese-taught), because it decides which subjects you can choose.
3. Choose every subject your target universities need in one go. You can't add a subject to a paid registration later.
4. Download your admission ticket when it's released, and keep it with your passport.

Results come out within seven working days for online and computer-based tests, and within 14 working days for paper-based ones.

Where can African students sit the CSCA?

The CSCA runs three ways: home-based online with a live proctor, computer-based at a test centre, or on paper at a test centre. The first test centres opened in Vietnam and Thailand, with India, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Kazakhstan named next. We haven't seen an official centre announced anywhere in Africa yet, so for now most students in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Togo and nearby countries will sit the home-based online test.

That sounds easy, but the setup is strict. Plan for this weeks ahead, not the night before:

• A Windows laptop or desktop. The test software doesn't run on macOS, and phones and tablets won't work.
• Two cameras, so the proctor can see you and your desk.
• A stable connection of at least 20 Mbps, plus backup power. A blackout halfway through Physics is the kind of story we'd rather not hear.
• A quiet, private room and a clear desk. Read the official exam-environment rules before test day.
• The official speed test and proctored mock test before exam day. Don't skip them.

If an official test centre opens near you, you'll have to use it, because candidates in areas with a centre can't register for the home test.

What the CSCA means for your CSC scholarship

The scholarship itself hasn't changed: it still covers tuition, a room on campus, medical insurance and a monthly allowance. What's changed is the paperwork. For undergraduate applicants, the CSCA score report is now a required document, alongside your notarised certificates, passport, study plan and medical form.

The catch is timing. CSC deadlines for September entry usually fall between January and April, and you need your score before you submit. Working backwards:

• Applying early (January to February deadlines): sit the 19–20 December 2026 exam.
• Applying later (March to April deadlines): sit the 23–24 January 2027 exam at the latest.
• 13–14 March 2027: only if your university has confirmed in writing that it will accept a late score.

Some universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) and Northwestern Polytechnical University, have let applicants apply first and send the score later, up to a fixed deadline. Treat that as a bonus, not a plan.

Each university sets its own pass mark. Zhengzhou University, for example, asks for at least 50 out of 100 in every subject. A score that clears 50 might get you in somewhere, but scholarship places are competitive, and you want to be well above the line.

Universities in China that don't require the CSCA

Yes, there are some. Any university that isn't part of the Chinese Government Scholarship programme can still admit you to a bachelor's degree without a CSCA score, at least until the rule widens around 2028. A couple of CSC universities have also let self-funded students apply without one for 2026 entry, Minzu University of China and Beijing International Studies University among them.

That's useful if you're self-funded and short on time. But be careful. "No CSCA needed" doesn't make a university a good choice, and it says nothing about whether the degree will be recognised when you come home. Before paying anything, check the university with the Commission for University Education (CUE) in Kenya, ZIMCHE in Zimbabwe, or the Ministry of Higher Education in Togo.

How to prepare for the CSCA

The students who do well treat it like a school exam, not an application form. A simple 8-week plan:

1. Weeks 1–2: Get the syllabus. Download the official syllabus for each of your subjects from csca.cn and tick off the topics you've never covered. Chinese high-school maths goes further than some African syllabuses in places, so expect a few gaps.
2. Weeks 3–5: Close the gaps. Work through one weak topic every couple of days. Free high-school maths and science videos are fine; you don't need an expensive course to start.
3. Weeks 6–7: Practise against the clock. You get about 75 seconds per maths question, so speed matters as much as accuracy. Use the official sample questions and keep a notebook of every mistake.
4. Week 8: Full mock exams. Sit a complete paper at the same time of day as your real exam, on the same laptop, in the same room.

If your course is taught in Chinese and you're also sitting Professional Chinese, add HSK study on top. Note that an HSK certificate doesn't replace the CSCA, except for some Chinese-language degrees that accept HSK 4 instead of the Chinese paper.

CSCA exam FAQs