1.4 The BLNST, Your Results, and What Happens After the CRE

1.4 The BLNST, Your Results, and What Happens After the CRE

Quick Answer: Every civil service applicant must pass the Basic Law and National Security Law Test (BLNST). The degree or professional level version is a 30-minute bilingual test of 20 multiple-choice questions. At least 10 correct answers is a pass, and a pass is permanently valid for all civil service jobs. Since May 2025, Hong Kong candidates take the Digitalised BLNST year-round at the CSB Recruitment Centre. A paper BLNST is still held alongside CRE sittings outside Hong Kong.

Why the BLNST belongs in CRE preparation

The BLNST is a separate test, not a fourth CRE paper. However, the CSB publishes it on the same webpage, the overseas sittings combine both, and the recruitment timetable treats them together. For the 2026 joint recruitment exercise, local candidates without a BLNST pass had to obtain one by 5 December 2026 to be considered for appointment. A strong CRE result does not help if the BLNST pass arrives too late.

BLNST format and pass standard

Key rules:

• Earlier Basic Law Test results do not count. All candidates must pass the BLNST, regardless of whether or how they passed the old Basic Law Test (BLT).
• Results from other organisers usually do not count. Unless otherwise specified, a BLNST organised by the Independent Commission Against Corruption or another body not for civil service recruitment is not acceptable.
• Education Bureau results are mutually accepted. A pass in the BLNST (degree level) run by the Education Bureau for teaching posts is accepted for all civil service jobs, and vice versa.
• You may apply without a pass, and arrangements will be made during recruitment, but you will not be appointed without one.

Digitalised BLNST and the three-month suspension

The CSB launched the Digitalised BLNST (Degree / Professional Grades) in May 2025. It runs year-round at the Recruitment Centre, General Grades Office, 37th Floor, Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai. From June 2025, the CSB no longer holds a paper-based BLNST on the same day as the CRE in Hong Kong. Under the CSB's performance pledge, Digitalised BLNST results are issued on the day of the examination.

What the BLNST covers

The scope is the text of the Basic Law, including all its annexes, instruments, attachments and appendices, and the National Security Law (the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region). The Basic Law has 160 articles; the National Security Law has 66 articles.

The CSB's official sample questions show the style: precise article-based recall. Facts confirmed by the official sample answers include:

Prepare by reading the full texts, not summaries: the official samples test annexes as well as the main articles, and several use "which is/are not correct" formats with combined options.

After the CRE: results and applications

1. Results: within one month, as an electronic result certificate (Section 1.2). Download and keep it.
2. Review: email the CSEU within two weeks of the certificate's issue date if needed. Papers with Level 2 or a Pass are not reviewed.
3. Apply for posts: apply to the recruiting department or grade directly, in response to recruitment advertisements on the CSB website and elsewhere. The CRE application form is not a job application.
4. Department vetting: departments check your academic and professional qualifications and may set their own tests. For the AO, EOII, AIO(G), ATOII, MSOII and TOII posts this is the three-hour Joint Recruitment Examination.
5. Interviews and appointment: shortlisted candidates are interviewed. Only candidates with a BLNST pass are considered for appointment.

Using results across applications

Because passing CRE results are permanent and can be combined across sittings, plan your attempts around the grades you want:

• Aim first for the results that cover the largest number of target grades (usually Level 2 in both language papers).
• Add the AT Pass if any target grade needs it.
• Keep IELTS validity in mind if you rely on IELTS for UE.
• Take the Digitalised BLNST early, so that the three-month suspension cannot collide with a recruitment deadline.