The Korean government demands a certain level of English or Korean from international students because basic
English or Korean skills are needed in order to have a comfortable stay in Korea.
The international students required to submit his/her Test of Proficiency in Korean(TOPIK) scores to apply for a regular
degree course in Korea. The Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) is aimed to providing the direction for the study
of the Korean language to foreigners who don't speak Korean as their native language and evaluating their
Korean language speaking ability to use the evaluation result for their study abroad and employment.
If international students would like to study in Korea for a regular degree course, it is generally required to submit
TOPIK Level 3 or higher accompanied by the admission documents to the corresponding college or university and
reach TOPIK Level 4 or higher to graduate. However, if international students would like to apply the courses are
given in English, the applicants submit the certificate of English proficiency (ie. TOEFL) and they don’t need to acquire
TOPIK scores nor reach TOPIK Level 4 or higher to graduate.
For exchange students, government invited students, foreign government supported students, Korean language
students, art & physical education applicants, the required test scores may be alleviated; For more information,
please ask your college or university.
The test is held six times a year (in January, March, April, July, October and November) and the yearly test schedule is
notified on the TOPIK website at the beginning of every year. The levels are divided into I and II: beginner level for
TOPIK I (Levels 1 and 2), advanced level for TOPIK II (Levels 3, 4, 5 and 6). For more information about the test,
please refer to the TOPIK website.
