HSK Intermediate is suitable for persons who have mastery of
2000-5000 Chinese words (Note: this does not mean "characters. Please
refer to Levels A, B and C in the Outline of HSK Vocabulary) and
certain rules of grammar (Please refer to Levels A, B and C in the
Outline of HSK Grammar).

1. Function of the Certificate of HSK Elementary-Intermediate:

• to be a requirement to enter a college or universtiy in China as an undergraduate student.
• to exempt the holder from taking certain languages courses in China.
• as a basis for employers to evaluate job applicants' Chinese language proficiency.

2. HSK Intermediate scoring system:

(1)Interpretation
of HSK Intermediate is a scale score with 50 as the mean and
15 as the standard deviation. The total score is a scale score with 200
as the mean and 60 as the standard deviation. These scores show the
relative position of the candidate in a standard HSK sample group. In
Table 2.1, it indicates the relative position of a candidate in the
whole group. The column on the right gives the percentage of those
whose scores are lower than the corresponding score in the standard HSK
reference group. The total score is not equal to the sum of all the
subscores.

Table 2.1 Percentile of the scores of HSK Elementary-Intermediate

(2)
Table 2.2 shows the subscores of HSK Intermediate as well as
the types and grades of the certificate of HSK Elementary-Intermediate.

Table 2.2 HSK Subscores Ranking Standard and Types, Grades
of Elementary and Intermediate Certificate

In
Table 2.2, HSK Elementary has a bottom line below Level C, which is
established for the convenience of setting the standards for HSK
elementary certificate. So the bottom line cannot be used for measuring
the beginning level. The candidate cannot gain the certificate of HSK
Elementary if his or her score reaches the bottom line.

3. Description of the level scoring system

HSK
has eleven score levels, among which Levels 1-3 are the beginning
levels, Levels 3-5 are the elementary levels, Levels 6-8 are the
intermediate levels, Levels 9-11 are the advanced levels. The following
is the description of Levels 3-8.

Level
3---Has basic (low) competence in Chinese. A person reaching this level
can gain the certificate of HSK Elementary Grade C. Level 3 is the
minimum level in Chinese proficiency for a candidate to be admitted to
a college or universtiy in China as an undergraduate student in a field
of science, engineering, agriculture or Western medicine.

Level 4---Has basic (mid) competence in Chinese. Can gain the certificate of HSK Elementary Grade B.

Level 5---Has basic (high) competence in Chinese. Can gain the certificate of HSK Elementary Grade A.

Level
6---Is proficient in Chinese at the intermediate (low) level. Can gain
the certificate of HSK Intermediate Grade C.Level 6 is the minimum
level required by the PRC Ministry of Education for a candidate to
enter a college or university in China as an undergraduate student in a
field of literature, history or traditional Chinese medicine.

Level 7---Is proficient in Chinese at the intermediate (mid) level. Can gain the certificate of HSK Intermediate Grade B.

Level 8---Is proficient in Chinese at the intermediate (high) level. Can gain the certificate of HSK Intermediate Grade A.

4. Requirements to obtain the certificate of HSK Elementary-Intermediate:

(1) The candidate must secure the total scores required for the corresponding grade.

(2) The candidate must secure three of the four required subscores for the corresponding grade.

(3)
Only one of the four subscores is allowed to be lower than the required
minimum grade, but not lower than the minimum scores of the next lower
grade. In such a case, the candidate can only be awarded the
certificate of a lower grade.

The
above 3 requirements aim at encoraging the candidate to develop various
skills in Chinese uniformly. The irregular development of any
particular skill will affect the obtaining of the HSK certificate.

5. Components and test length of HSK Intermediate:

HSK Intermediate is a 170-item, 145 minutes test which is
divided into four subtests: listeing, sentence structure, reading and
cloze. Items from 1-154 are multiple-choice. Items 155-170 are a test
of comprehension in which blank spaces at regular internals in a text
must be filled in with appropriate Chinese characters. During the time
allowed for each section, examinees must work on that section only and
are not permitted to work beyond the time limit for the section.
Examinees are also not permitted to turn to a section that has not been
announced or turn to a previous section. The test is taken in this
order: