CSCA / CSCA sittings, registration windows and score timing
CSCA sittings, registration windows and score timing
The assessment runs several times a year, which means the date you choose is a planning decision rather than a fixed obstacle. The constraint that actually matters is your universities’ score deadlines.
CSCA runs multiple sittings each year rather than a single annual exam. Reported 2026 sittings fall in January, March, April, June and December, delivered primarily as an online test taken at home under remote proctoring. Exact dates, registration windows and score-release timing are published on the official site and change between cycles.
Planning your sitting date
Work backwards from the score deadline, not the application deadline
Universities need the score report as part of the application file. Find the earliest score deadline across your shortlist and treat that as your real deadline.
Leave room for one retake
Because sittings repeat through the year, booking your first attempt early enough to sit again before the deadline is the single cheapest form of insurance in the whole application.
Registration closes well before the sitting
Registration windows open and close ahead of each date, and identity verification for remote proctoring takes time. Missing a window costs you the whole sitting, not just a few days.
Test your setup before test day
Remote proctoring places requirements on your device, camera, connection and room. Check them during the registration window while there is still time to fix a problem.
Timeline checklist
- List every shortlisted university and the score deadline each one publishes.
- Pick a first sitting that leaves at least one later sitting before the earliest deadline.
- Note the registration open and close dates for both sittings, in China Standard Time.
- Confirm which papers you are registering for before you pay any fee.
- Check the device, connection and identity requirements for online proctoring.
- Record when scores are released and how the report reaches universities.
Confirm the current calendar
Sitting dates, registration windows, fees and score-release timing are published on csca.cn and are revised between cycles. The months summarised on this page are an orientation aid drawn from public reporting, not a substitute for the official calendar.
Reviewed August 2026. Verify every date against the official source before booking a proctoring slot or committing to an application deadline.
Keep reading
- CSCA: the entrance test for undergraduate study in China
- CSCA past papers: what exists, what is reliable, what to practise
- What the CSCA syllabus covers
- Universities that require CSCA for undergraduate admission
CSCA past papers — A timed attempt at a full paper is the fastest way to work out whether the next sitting is realistic.
Reviewed 2026-08-13.