Table 1.2 explains the type and grade of the certificate. The candidate must secure the total minimum score required for the corresponding level. Able to handle simple, elementary needs in very familiar situations. Able to satisfy partially the requirements of basic communicative exchanges. Level 3 is the minimum level in Chinese proficiency for a candidate to be admitted to a college or university in China as an undergraduate student in the field of science, engineering, agriculture and Western medicine as well as the standard for obtaining the certificate of HSK Basic Grade A, which is equivalent to Grade C of HSK Elementary.
All items are multiple-choice.
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 go back to an earlier section. 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. The column on the right gives the percentage of those whose scores are lower 18 than the corresponding scores in the standard HSK reference group .