The online Chinese Proficiency Test serves only to fulfill the General Education language requirement. No course placement recommendation is given to those who fail, and no academic credit is awarded to those who pass. If you pass, your Gen Ed language requirement will be marked as "completed."
REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED FOR SATURDAY'S EXAM. If you registered, you will receive an email on Friday afternoon with instructions for taking the test. It is scheduled for 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central Time on April 10, 2021.
The next opportunity to test will probably be in August prior to the start of Fall semester. Please check back for updates.
If you don't know what level of proficiency you need to demonstrate in order to satisfy your Gen Ed language requirement, be sure to ask your academic advisor. You must know which test version you want to take before you register for the exam. The level of proficiency you need to demonstrate depends on your college, your department, and your major. You have only one opportunity to take the proficiency test, so before registering to take the exam, make sure you know which test version your academic program requires.
- Version T1 tests for 3 semesters of Chinese, or third-level proficiency
- Version T2 tests for 4 semesters of Chinese, or fourth-level proficiency
- Version T3 tests for 6 semesters of Chinese, or sixth-level proficiency
- Version T4 tests for 8 semesters of Chinese, or eighth-level proficiency
The Chinese Proficiency Test is designed to evaluate your reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking skills in Mandarin Chinese and to evaluate those skills independent of Chinese regional dialect, skill level, or character set (i.e., either simplified or traditional). You will be able to choose the character set you prefer before the test begins. To pass, you must demonstrate satisfactory performance in listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing in Mandarin Chinese. Superior performance in one skill does not compensate for inadequate performance in another skill. Speaking, however, is optional. If you choose to do the speaking tasks, your speech sample will not count towards your grade on the exam.
If your goal, however, is to continue studying Chinese, you need to take the online Chinese Placement Test, not the proficiency test. A preliminary course placement recommendation will appear as soon as you finish, based on your scores on the multiple-choice listening comprehension and reading comprehension sections. If your speaking and writing performance indicate that the initial placement should be adjusted, you will be informed of this via email shortly before classes start.
- If you are going to be a new freshman or new transfer student for 2021-2022, the placement test will be available in May. Please check back.
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If you are currently enrolled at UIUC, you may self-enroll into the "Chinese Placement Test for Continuing Students" and your placement will be valid for Fall 2021 course enrollment.