6 The examination INTRODUCTION The Intermediate Certificate examination has a very important role; it acts as a bridge between the relatively straightforward Foundation examination, with questions up to the K3 level, and the much more challenging essay style of the Practitioner Certificate examinations, which are at levels up to K6. In this progression, the single most difficult step that candidates have found in the past is that from K3 to K4, and the reason is that K4 requires the skill of applying knowledge in a realistic context. The Intermediate syl labus therefore concentrates on the analysis skill, adding relatively little new technical information to what was specified for Foundation. The focus at Intermediate is on adding depth to the understanding of core topics so that they can be applied effectively to real-life situations. The K4 learning object ives signal the need to be able to analyse a scenario and apply the theoretical ideas in the syllabus to the context of that scenario. The ability to analyse scenarios is the single most important outcome of an Intermediate Certificate qualification, and the one that provides an effective