Translate a Chinese Degree Certificate for Skills Assessment in Australia

What a Chinese degree certificate (学位证书) actually contains

A mainland Chinese degree certificate is a single page, usually A4, headed with the awarding university's name and the characters 学位证书. It carries the graduate's name, sex, date of birth, the degree conferred (for example 工学学士, Bachelor of Engineering), the major, the dates of study, the certificate number, the date of conferral, and the university seal plus the signature of the president or authorised officer. Many institutions also print a photograph.

Translators work from a clear scan or photo of the whole page, including the seal. If the seal is faint, or the photo crops the edge of the page, the translation cannot be completed accurately. Send the full page, flat, in colour, at a readable resolution.

If you are asking us to translate a Chinese degree certificate for skills assessment in Australia, note that the certificate alone is rarely the whole story — see the next section on the companion documents assessors usually want.

The document set assessors usually expect

A skills assessment is run by the relevant assessing authority for your nominated occupation, not by the Department of Home Affairs. Which body that is depends on your occupation, and each body publishes its own documentary requirements. Common companions to the degree certificate are:

• the graduation certificate (毕业证书), which is a separate document from the degree certificate;
• the academic transcript (成绩单), listing subjects, credits and marks;
• a qualification verification report, where the assessing body asks for one.

Do not assume the degree certificate alone will satisfy the assessor. Check the document checklist on the assessing authority's website for your occupation before you order any translation, and confirm with them whether certified translations of the transcript and graduation certificate are also required.

What usually goes wrong with these translations

Most problems we see are not translation errors. They are these:

Name order. Chinese names are written surname first. A translator has to decide how to render the name so it matches the passport. Ask for the name to follow the passport exactly, and check it on delivery.

Degree title drift. 学士 is a bachelor's degree, 硕士 a master's, 博士 a doctorate. Rendering 学士 as "Degree" or "Diploma" instead of "Bachelor" creates a mismatch with the transcript and with the qualification claimed in the application.

Missing seal or signature detail. The seal text (often the university name in a circle) and the president's signature are part of the document. A translation that omits them looks incomplete to a case officer.

Uncertified translation. Many receiving bodies require the translation to be certified — signed by the translator with a statement that it is an accurate translation of the original. A plain translation without that statement may be refused.

Photocopy of a photocopy. Send the best copy you have. If the original is with a relative in China, ask them to photograph it flat in good light.

Certification: what the signature means

A certified translation of your 学位证书 is signed by the credentialed translator who produced it, and that signed PDF is what you receive by email. The certification statement sits on the translated document, identifying the translator and the source document. Whether a particular assessing body accepts a translator-certified translation, or also wants a NAATI-certified translator, is a question for that body — requirements differ between assessing authorities and can change. Ask them directly, in writing, and keep the reply.

What to prepare before you order

• A colour scan or photo of the full degree certificate, all four edges visible, seal legible.
• Your passport, so the name and date of birth on the translation match it.
• The English name of the university as it uses it officially, if you know it. Translators can verify this, but your input helps.
• Any instructions from the assessing body about format, certification wording, or whether the translation must be lodged by them or uploaded by you.

Our list price for a Chinese degree certificate (中国学位证书) is AUD $50. Delivery is by email, normally within 24 hours; we do not offer a rush service, so build the wait into your assessment timeline.

Questions worth putting to the assessing body

Before you lodge anything, ask: do you require a certified translation, and certified by whom? Do you need the graduation certificate and transcript translated as well? Must the translation be uploaded with the application, or sent directly by the translator? Is a verification report required for a mainland Chinese qualification, and if so, from which service? The answers decide what you order — not the other way round.