Adult qualifications (equivalency exams)

Regardless of age or nationality, the equivalency exam can give you recognised qualifications.

What the exam is

• Middle school equivalency — recognised as equivalent to completing middle school.
• High school equivalency — recognised as equivalent to completing high school.
• Passing helps with university entry, employment and professional exams.
• It is generally held twice a year. Check dates with your provincial or metropolitan office of education.

How to prepare

1. Check the schedule and eligibility on your office of education's website.
2. Apply during the registration period, online or in person.
3. Prepare subject by subject. Subject-level passes sometimes carry over.
4. Use free classes — EBS, local lifelong learning centres, online courses.
5. After the exam, obtain your certificate of passing.

Where to study

• Lifelong learning centres and evening schools — free or low-cost locally.
• EBS online lectures
• Family centres and foreign residents' support centres — study advice and referrals.
• Community centres — information on local programmes.

Where to go

• Your provincial or metropolitan office of education (equivalency exams)
• 1577-1366 Danuri Call Centre (multilingual guidance)
• Your nearest lifelong learning centre
• 1345 Immigration Contact Centre
• Community centre (local programmes)

Questions people ask

Can foreign residents sit it? Eligibility is set in the office of education's notice. Check with them directly.

My Korean isn't good enough. It is better to start with a Korean language course. See korean-class-free and kiip-overview.

Are qualifications from my home country recognised? There is a separate recognition procedure. Ask the Ministry of Education or the recognition body — it is a different route from the equivalency exam.

I want to go to university. You can apply after passing the high school equivalency. Also look into multicultural scholarships. See university-scholarship.

Take care

Beware paid courses or brokers "guaranteeing" a pass. You must sit the exam yourself. Miss the registration period and you wait for the next sitting, so check the schedule in advance.

Related

korean-class-free · kiip-overview · university-scholarship · nationality-support · vocational-training

Source

Ministry of Education www.moe.go.kr / As of 2026-08