How to earn the Seal of Biliteracy in Chinese: every state's tests and scores

What does your state ask for in Chinese?

The Seal of Biliteracy is a state award, so the rules are your state's. Each sets which tests count, the score on each and whether you need it in every skill. Some add a coursework route, a portfolio or higher tiers such as gold or platinum.

We read the rules on every state education department's site, or in its statute or board rule, and saved a copy of each. Pick your state here:

Two states are marked not verified. Maryland's education department is rebuilding its website and hasn't reposted its test list, and South Dakota hasn't published its scores. For those, the finder links the official page. Rules change most years, so confirm with your school's Seal coordinator before you book a test.

Most states ask for Intermediate Mid; twelve ask for more

The levels come from ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Its scale runs from Novice up to Distinguished, and the first three levels, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced, each split into Low, Mid and High. The 2020 national guidelines found Intermediate Mid and Intermediate High the most common bars, and that still holds.

Here's where each state sets its entry bar for Chinese on proficiency tests:

Source: our reading of each state's education department pages, statutes and rules, 5 and 6 November 2026; see Methods. DC counts as a state here. Where a state has tiers, the entry tier counts.

The gap between the two main bars is bigger than it sounds. Intermediate High means you can often tell a story in the past or plan the future in connected sentences. If you live in one of those twelve states, that's the level to train for.

What the seal is worth, and what it isn't

In most states the seal is a line on your transcript and a mark on your diploma. Illinois, for example, notes it on the transcript and prints a graphic on the diploma. It tells colleges and employers you can work in two languages, usually with a test score behind it.

Some colleges turn it into credit. Rhode Island law lets holders claim course credit at the state's public colleges, and North Dakota's 11 public colleges and universities can award credit too. Nebraska's education department says more than 90 colleges nationwide attach credit to the seal.

The national guidelines suggest how to do it: fewer credits for Intermediate Mid, more for Intermediate High or Advanced Low. So a higher tier, where your state has one, can be worth more later.

Here's what it isn't. The seal on its own isn't course credit: New Jersey says plainly that it comes with no high-school credits. A few states do give credit for the test behind it, such as Indiana's six world-language credits and Washington's competency-based credits.

If you're weighing the seal against AP, IB or the HSK, our guide to choosing a Chinese exam sets them side by side, with what each is worth.

What STAMP 4S or AAPPL score do you need?

Each test maker reports its own scale, and each state translates it. Avant's STAMP gives each skill a level number, and ACTFL's AAPPL uses a letter-and-number code for each part.

Here's how the scores line up with ACTFL levels, and how states tend to read AP Chinese:

Sources: Avant's STAMP benchmark scale; ACTFL's AAPPL score chart; state tables for AP. AP isn't an ACTFL test, so each state sets its own equivalence.

The trap is AAPPL's Intermediate Mid. ACTFL's own score report puts three AAPPL scores, from I-2 to I-4, "in the Intermediate Mid range." So "Intermediate Mid on AAPPL" means different scores in different states.

Here's the AAPPL score each state actually asks for, among the 41 that name AAPPL:

Source: each state's test list, 5 and 6 November 2026. Arizona's I-2 is its Mandarin score, one threshold below most languages'. Arkansas, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia average the parts; North Carolina reads a composite; most others need the score in every part.

So an I-3 in writing passes in Iowa and fails in Colorado. Read your state's exact score, not just the level name.

Intermediate Mid means strings of sentences

ACTFL's 2024 guidelines describe Intermediate Mid speakers in plain terms: their speech "largely consists of strings of sentences." They handle everyday topics such as family, home, daily routines, food and shopping, and they can ask questions to get what they need.

Writing at this level is short and practical: messages and simple compositions in "loosely connected texts," mostly in the present. Intermediate High adds ease and confidence, and often a story in the past or a plan for the future that holds together.

Here's one STAMP-style prompt answered at three levels. The question: what do you usually do at weekends? 你周末一般做什么？ nǐ zhōumò yìbān zuò shénme?

• Novice High: one short fact. 我打篮球。我喜欢篮球。 wǒ dǎ lánqiú. wǒ xǐhuan lánqiú. I play basketball. I like basketball.
• Intermediate Mid: a string of related sentences. 周末我一般跟朋友去公园打篮球。 zhōumò wǒ yìbān gēn péngyou qù gōngyuán dǎ lánqiú. At weekends I usually play basketball in the park with friends. 打完球以后，我们一起去吃饭。 dǎwán qiú yǐhòu, wǒmen yìqǐ qù chīfàn. After the game we go and eat together. 我最喜欢吃饺子，因为我奶奶常常做饺子。 wǒ zuì xǐhuan chī jiǎozi, yīnwèi wǒ nǎinai chángcháng zuò jiǎozi. I like dumplings best, because my grandma often makes them.
• Intermediate High: past, future and a turn. 上个周末我本来想去打篮球，可是下雨了，所以我在家帮奶奶包饺子。 shàng ge zhōumò wǒ běnlái xiǎng qù dǎ lánqiú, kěshì xià yǔ le, suǒyǐ wǒ zài jiā bāng nǎinai bāo jiǎozi. Last weekend I meant to play basketball, but it rained, so I stayed home and helped Grandma make dumplings. 下个周末如果天气好，我们打算去爬山。 xià ge zhōumò rúguǒ tiānqì hǎo, wǒmen dǎsuàn qù páshān. Next weekend, if the weather's good, we plan to go hiking.

The jump from the first answer to the second isn't vocabulary. It's detail and connection: who, where, when, and a reason. These linking words do most of that work:

• because, 因为(yīnwèi), and so, 所以(suǒyǐ)
• then, 然后(ránhòu), and after, 以后(yǐhòu)
• but, 可是(kěshì), and if, 如果(rúguǒ)

On AAPPL's video chat, add one more move: ask a question back, such as 你呢？ nǐ ne?, and what about you? ACTFL's descriptor for I-4 rewards keeping the conversation going by asking questions.

So aim every answer at three or four connected sentences. One sentence, however correct, reads as Novice.

Four kinds of test count in most states

Most states accept a mix of Avant's STAMP 4S, ACTFL's AAPPL, AP Chinese and IB Chinese. Many also take ACTFL's interview tests, and a few take the HSK, the TOCFL or a district's own exam.

Here's how STAMP 4S, AAPPL, AP and ACTFL's interview tests compare:

Sources: Avant's STAMP FAQ and STAMP 4S page; LTI's AAPPL page; College Board's 2027 exam dates and exam format; Washington OSPI's assessment options. Schools usually order STAMP and AAPPL, and some pay for them.

If you're in AP Chinese, the AP exam may be enough, though seniors' scores arrive after graduation. If not, STAMP 4S or AAPPL is the usual choice, and your school picks the vendor. We'd ask which one before you start practising, because the formats differ.

STAMP 4S: four sections, typed in characters

STAMP 4S tests reading, listening, writing and speaking for learners aged 13 and up, in Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Reading and listening adapt to you as you answer. Writing and speaking each have three prompts, rated by Avant.

Five rules matter more than any tip:

• Type characters, not pinyin. Avant marks romanized writing for a character-based language Not Ratable.
• Say enough. An answer of a single Chinese word scores zero for that prompt.
• Use your time. Each spoken answer can run three minutes, with one re-record and one add-on.
• Finish within 90 days. That's Avant's window for one test.
• One retake is possible. If one skill misses your state's level, your school can request one section retake.

One detail matters here. Avant's FAQ says its automated scoring system now rates written responses in STAMP 4S Mandarin Chinese, as well as Spanish, French and English. Spoken Chinese is still rated by people, and Avant says it checks the system against its human raters.

That makes accurate typing matter even more. Pinyin input offers several characters for one sound, and a wrong pick reads as a mistake. Watch pairs like 在 and 再, both zài: 我在家写。 wǒ zài jiā xiě. I write at home. 我明天再写。 wǒ míngtiān zài xiě. I'll write again tomorrow.

Set up a Chinese keyboard before test day. Avant suggests Google Input Tools in Chrome or your computer's own keyboard, and only the built-in keyboard works with remote proctoring.

AAPPL: a video chat, an email and two quizzes

AAPPL is ACTFL's test for school learners, delivered by Language Testing International, LTI. It has four parts: interpersonal listening and speaking, presentational writing, interpretive reading and interpretive listening.

The speaking part feels like a video call: you answer questions from a recorded partner. The writing part can be an email to a pen pal, and the reading part can use texts such as social media posts. All four take about two hours and can be given separately.

The form matters. Form A covers Novice and Intermediate and tops out at I-4. Form B runs from the Intermediate range to Advanced Low. If your state wants I-5, Form B is the one that can show it, and many states name Form B.

What lifts an AAPPL score? ACTFL's own score descriptions are a good map. An I-4 speaker keeps the conversation going about their own life "by asking questions and describing or telling stories." An I-5 speaker also talks about topics beyond themselves and resolves a problem.

So practise telling a whole story, then a problem and its fix. That's the difference between I-4 and I-5.

AP, IB and the ACTFL interviews

AP Chinese counts almost everywhere we could check: only Mississippi, North Dakota and South Carolina leave it off their lists. Most states want a 3. Most Intermediate High states want a 4, and so do New Jersey and New York. Our AP Chinese guide covers the new exam and its project.

There's a catch for seniors. AP scores come out in July, after most graduations. Several states, including DC, Montana and Oklahoma, say seniors are then recognized as candidates or awarded the seal after graduation.

IB Chinese works the same way, for students in IB programs. States usually ask for a 4 on Language B. Some ask one grade more at Standard Level than at Higher Level.

ACTFL's interview tests suit strong speakers. The OPI is a phone conversation of 15 to 30 minutes with a certified tester, and the OPIc is the computer version with an avatar. Both are paired with the WPT, a writing test, and California's law names the OPI and WPT.

One caveat on cost: ACTFL's lower-cost "OPI and WPT for the Seal of Biliteracy", for juniors and seniors, covers less commonly taught languages, Cantonese among them, but not Mandarin. Mandarin learners take the regular OPI or OPIc with the WPT.

Where the rules bend for Chinese

Chinese is harder for English speakers than Spanish, and a few states say so in their rules. Others name Chinese tests or give home-language speakers a different route.

Here's what we found, state by state:

Sources: each state's test list or guide, 5 and 6 November 2026, linked in the finder. New York calls Mandarin a Category 3-4 language; Utah applies the same lower minimums to Arabic, and Arizona to 10 other languages.

The TOCFL, Taiwan's test, is named in 17 states and DC, including Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and New York. The HSK, mainland China's, appears in seven, among them Arizona, Michigan and Utah. If you already hold one, ask your coordinator whether it counts. Our TOCFL guide and HSK guide explain both.

Cantonese speakers have options too. Many states, New York, Illinois and Michigan among them, list ACTFL's OPI and WPT for the Seal of Biliteracy in Cantonese. Some add Avant's SuperLanguage test or ALTA's.

Heritage speakers: your weakest skill decides

If you grew up speaking Chinese at home, you may talk easily and read slowly. In UCLA's national survey of heritage students at US colleges, writing was the skill they rated lowest, and listening the highest.

Most states require the level in each skill separately. Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina and Wisconsin, for example, rule out averaging. So a fluent speaker with a 4 in writing fails where every skill needs a 5.

A few states read it differently:

• Average or composite. Arkansas, New Hampshire and West Virginia average the parts, Vermont averages AAPPL scores, and North Carolina uses the composite score.
• Some leeway. Ohio accepts one skill a level lower on STAMP 4S or AAPPL.
• Keep what you passed. Wisconsin lets you retest only the skills you missed, and a skill passed once stays passed. Iowa, Montana and Ohio also allow retesting just the missed parts.
• No literacy required, in narrow cases. Maine may exempt home-language speakers who haven't had the chance to learn to read and write Chinese, and Colorado's new oral-only seal recognizes speaking and listening.

Our guide for heritage speakers covers how to build reading and writing from a speaking base. For the seal, we'd spend most of your time on typing characters and reading short texts, the two skills a home speaker rarely practises.

You usually don't need Chinese classes either. DC, Missouri and South Carolina say so outright, though Missouri also asks for a measure of cultural skills.

New York runs on points and Checkpoints

New York's seal works differently. You need three points in English and three in a world language, plus a Regents diploma.

For Chinese, the points usually come from three places:

• A Checkpoint C course with a grade of 85 or more: one point.
• An approved test, such as STAMP 4S at 5 or AP at 4: one point.
• A culminating project presented to a panel: two points.

Any mix that adds up to three counts. A course and one test give two points, so add the project or a second approved test: New York counts up to two test points in one language. Two other routes give a point each: a B average over three years of school abroad in Chinese, from grade 8 on, or 85 or more in a bilingual program's Chinese courses.

NYSED's 2023-24 report says 5.8% of seniors at New York's district high schools earned the seal.

Checkpoints are New York's stages of language study, each about two years:

• Checkpoint A ends around grade 8. It aims at Novice High and passes at Novice Mid, and it earns the one world-language credit every student needs.
• Checkpoint B ends around grade 10. For Mandarin it aims at Intermediate Low and passes at Novice High, and with the course it meets the language requirement for the Advanced Designation diploma.
• Checkpoint C is the level after that, and the level the seal is built on.

Checkpoint A and B exams aren't state tests. Schools, districts, consortia or vendors write them, following NYSED's guidance. Reading and listening carry 40% of the marks and the speaking conversation 30%. The last 30% is presentational: mostly writing, though a school may give part of it to a short talk.

The speaking part is short conversations with your teacher, three at Checkpoint A and two at B, often role plays or interviews, on prompts you choose from a list.

Two dates matter. The revised Checkpoint A exams started in June 2025. The revised Checkpoint B exams start in June 2027.

For middle schoolers there's a Checkpoint A Chinese workbook too, with four speaking topics and a four-week plan.

Mandarin seals are rising where states count them

Only a few states publish seal counts by language. Where they do, Chinese is in the top five: fourth in New York, Illinois and New Jersey, and second in Nevada.

New York's reports give a trend:

Source: NYSED's NYSSB annual reports, 2020-21 to 2023-24. 2020-21 was a pandemic year.

Other states that count put Chinese in a similar place:

Sources: NYSED annual report 2023-24 (of 10,940 seals); ISBE's SY 2025 summary (of 11,131); NJDOE's annual report (of 12,644). Illinois's count is public schools only; it also gave 154 Commendations in Mandarin. Nevada counted 80 in 2024-25, as Chinese, Mandarin and Cantonese, second only to Spanish.

In all three, Chinese comes fourth, so you're far from the first to take this route.

A 12-week plan, by starting point

This plan assumes you're close to your state's bar, perhaps one sublevel short in one skill, with twelve weeks to go.

Here's how we'd spend about 30 minutes a day, depending on how you learned Chinese:

Sample tests: Avant's free STAMP 4S samples in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and ACTFL's AAPPL demo. See the free practice section below.

If your test is a year away, keep the same order and stretch each stage. Add two things for the long run: read a little Chinese every day, and speak it with family whenever you can.

Test day: the rules that trip students up

Most problems on test day are logistics, not language. These are the ones we saw again and again in state and vendor rules:

• The test window. Many states only accept tests from high school. Missouri, South Carolina and Wyoming want junior or senior year, and Kentucky recommends it. New Jersey counts tests from January of junior year, and Ohio from the 15 months before graduation.
• Proctoring. STAMP 4S needs a proctor approved by the school or program that orders it. Avant and LTI both offer remote proctoring.
• The headset. AAPPL needs headphones with a microphone, and STAMP records your speaking too, so test yours first.
• The keyboard. Load and test your Chinese input method on the actual test computer.
• Results take weeks. STAMP writing and speaking scores take about 25 business days, and AP scores come in July.
• Deadlines. Some states take applications, such as Nebraska on 1 August, 1 November and 1 April. Ask your coordinator for yours.

Who pays varies too. New York districts must cover approved Checkpoint C tests other than AP and IB. Ohio gives no state money, and West Virginia's flyer says fees run from $0 to $140.

The best free practice

Start with the tests' own samples, then add practice in the same format. All of these are free:

• Our workbooks, free with a SayMei account. The Seal of Biliteracy pack, STAMP 4S, AAPPL, OPI and OPIc, and New York's Checkpoint A and Checkpoint B. They're practice in each test's format, not official tests.
• Avant's sample tests. STAMP 4S samples in Chinese, Simplified and Traditional, from its sample tests page.
• ACTFL's AAPPL demo and tips. Short tip videos for each part, plus demo tasks, on the AAPPL tips page.
• ACTFL's AAPPL score descriptions. What each score means and how to move up, in plain language, on the scores page.
• NYSED's Checkpoint resources. Scoring guides for speaking and writing and an archive of older state exams, from NYSED's Checkpoint pages.

Our guide to speaking Chinese has more ways to practise talking on your own.

Every state at a glance

Here's every state and DC on one page, for comparing or for teachers with students in several states:

Where SayMei fits, and where it doesn't

SayMei is an app for learning Mandarin by speaking with Mei Lin, an AI teacher. For the seal, it helps with the skill most interviews test: answering out loud, with feedback on your tones.

Our free workbooks give practice in the STAMP 4S, AAPPL, OPI and New York Checkpoint formats. Stories, read along with audio, help with reading characters, and flashcards help you remember them.

Here's what we don't do. SayMei can't give you a STAMP, AAPPL or ACTFL rating, and Mei Lin doesn't mark test answers. We don't run proctored tests or handle your state's paperwork. SayMei teaches standard Mandarin with Simplified characters by default.

SayMei Premium is $5.99 a month for 200 minutes of lessons.

SayMei Stories on its own is $2.99 a month.

What to do next

• Look up your state above. Note the test, the score and whether it's per skill or an average.
• Ask your school's Seal coordinator. Find out which test they order, when, and who pays.
• Take a free sample test. Find your weakest skill before you plan.
• Practise typing in characters. STAMP 4S and AP Chinese both test your writing on a keyboard.
• Answer in strings of sentences. Add a detail, a reason and a time word to every answer.