Indonesian UKBI & Thai CU-TFL Matrices
Benchmark official Indonesian (UKBI) and Thai (CU-TFL) language scores against the governmental proficiency bands used for visa, scholarship, and university admission across ASEAN.
UKBI Predikat
How It Works
1. UKBI (Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia)
UKBI is Indonesia's official mother-tongue proficiency exam, administered by Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa under Kementerian Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah. Scores are mapped onto seven predikat ranks running from Terbatas (lowest) to Istimewa (highest):
- Istimewa · 725–800 · perfect mastery, no constraints in any domain
- Sangat Unggul · 641–724 · very high mastery, professional fluency
- Unggul · 578–640 · high mastery, academic-ready
- Madya · 482–577 · adequate for daily and social communication
- Semenjana · 405–481 · intermediate, limited workplace use
- Marginal · 326–404 · basic survival level
- Terbatas · 251–325 · very limited
Scores below 251 fall outside the certificated band and do not receive an official predikat.
2. CU-TFL (Chulalongkorn University Test of Thai as a Foreign Language)
CU-TFL is issued by the Sirindhorn Thai Language Institute, Chulalongkorn University — the canonical Thai proficiency exam recognised by Thai universities and government bodies. It evaluates four skills (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking) on the ACTFL-derived scale:
- Distinguished (ดีเด่น) ≈ CEFR C2
- Superior (ดีมาก) ≈ CEFR C1
- Advanced (ดี) ≈ CEFR B2
- Intermediate (กลาง) ≈ CEFR B1
- Novice (ฝึกพูด) ≈ CEFR A1–A2
The certified overall level uses minimum-of-skills logic: the overall band equals the weakest skill submitted. This is critical — a Superior in Reading does not rescue a Novice in Speaking; the candidate certificate will show Novice overall. Most Thai scholarships set a floor of Intermediate or higher across every skill, while the most competitive programmes (e.g. CUIS, Royal Thai Government grants) favour Superior across every skill.
Authoritative References
- Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah — official UKBI scoring at ukbi.kemendikdasmen.go.id .
- Sirindhorn Thai Language Institute, Chulalongkorn University — official CU-TFL bands at sti.chula.ac.th .
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