TOPIK 2026: the dates, fees and score bands behind every visa guide's mention

8 min read

Read enough guides about studying, working or settling in Korea and one abbreviation keeps showing up like a password: TOPIK 3. TOPIK 5. TOPIK 4 by graduation. It quietly decides whether a Global Korea Scholarship student skips a year of language training, whether a KIIP applicant starts at level zero or gets placed higher, how many hours a D-2 student can legally work, and whether a junior-college graduate qualifies for Korea's newest work visa at all.

What almost nothing explains is the test itself — what it actually costs in 2026, when it runs, what the two formats are, and what a passing score really looks like. This guide is that missing page.

  • ₩40,000–₩95,000Official 2026 fee, by test and format
  • 6Paper-test (PBT) rounds run in Korea this year
  • 2 yrsHow long a TOPIK score stays valid
  • 3Speaking-test rounds — separate from the written test entirely

Three certificates, not one ladder

The name "TOPIK" covers three separate products, each with its own registration, fee and certificate. Clearing TOPIK I doesn't roll into TOPIK II, and the Speaking test isn't bundled into either one — it's a fourth thing people frequently assume is included and isn't.

TOPIK is three separate certificates, not one ladder: TOPIK I covers levels 1 to 2 on paper only, TOPIK II covers levels 3 to 6 on paper or computer, and TOPIK Speaking is scored on its own 1 to 6 scale with its own registration and fee TOPIK I Levels 1–2 · beginner PBT only TOPIK II Levels 3–6 · intermediate+ PBT or IBT TOPIK Speaking Levels 1–6 · own scale Own fee, own sign-up Passing TOPIK I doesn't roll into TOPIK II, and Speaking isn't part of either. Three certificates, three separate registrations.
Check which certificate a scholarship, visa or program actually names before you register — most name one specific test, not "TOPIK" in general.

Almost everything written about GKS, KIIP or student work permits means TOPIK II, since that's where levels 3 through 6 live. TOPIK I only covers levels 1 and 2, and exists mostly to certify a starting point, not a destination.

Paper or computer: PBT vs IBT

TOPIK PBT

Pen and paper, at a fixed exam hall. TOPIK II has a short break between sessions, but you can't leave the building during it. Results took 32 to 47 days after the exam across 2026's six rounds — call it a month to seven weeks.

TOPIK IBT

On a computer, no break between sections. Runs six times in 2026, on different dates from the paper test. Results came back in about three weeks in every 2026 round so far — the faster option if a deadline is close.

Both formats test the same four skills — listening, reading, writing — and produce a certificate scored identically. The choice is really about your own deadline: IBT if you need the paper in hand quickly, PBT if you'd rather not stare at a screen for two hours straight.

Registering doesn't mean you can bring help Korea's 2026 TOPIK notice specifically bans devices with AI translation or writing features, disguised recording or filming gear, and — on IBT — using the keyboard or mouse for anything other than the test itself, deepfake tools included. Getting caught voids the exam and blocks you from sitting TOPIK again for two years; sitting the test for someone else, or having someone sit it for you, is a four-year ban. Every phone and smartwatch gets powered off and handed to the proctor before the first session starts, full stop.

What a passing score actually looks like

The written test (PBT and IBT) and the Speaking test are graded on entirely different scales — a "6" on one isn't measured the same way as a "6" on the other.

Reading, listening and writing (TOPIK I and II):

Level TOPIK I — PBT TOPIK I — IBT TOPIK II — PBT TOPIK II — IBT
1 80–139 121–235 — —
2 140–200 236–400 — —
3 — — 120–149 191–290
4 — — 150–189 291–360
5 — — 190–229 361–430
6 — — 230–300 431–600

Speaking, scored out of 200 regardless of format:

Level Score
1 20–49
2 50–89
3 90–109
4 110–129
5 130–159
6 160–200

A score is good for two years from the day it's announced — not from the day you sat the test. Certificates are issued online only; nothing gets mailed, faxed or emailed, so print your own the moment results post.

What's actually left on the 2026 calendar

If you're reading this the week it went up, one door has already closed. Registration for the last Speaking round of 2026 ran August 18–24 — it's shut. The next chance is 2027.

The written test still has room. Registration for the final PBT round (exam November 15) opens September 1 — tomorrow, if you're reading this on the day it published. The final IBT round (exam November 28) opens for registration September 15. Both close roughly five to eleven weeks before their exam date, which is a narrower window than most people assume when they're still "deciding" whether to book.

A valid alien registration card works as ID on exam day Korea's TOPIK rules accept a passport, an alien registration card, a mobile ARC or a permanent residency card at the door — no separate document needed just because you're a foreign resident rather than a Korean national.

What a level actually buys you

None of this exists in a vacuum — a TOPIK level is currency across nearly every guide on this site:

  • TOPIK 3+ at application to the Global Korea Scholarship earns points, and finishing GKS's funded language year requires it before you can start your degree
  • TOPIK 5 or 6 at application can exempt a GKS scholar from that language year entirely
  • A KIIP applicant with a TOPIK score can skip the placement test and start at a higher level instead of level zero
  • A student's part-time work permit hours scale with TOPIK level, not just with time enrolled
  • In 16 pilot vocational departments, TOPIK 3 waives the bank-balance requirement for a D-2 visa and raises the weekly work cap — and TOPIK 5 is one of two ways into the new E-7-M (K-CORE) visa
  • University accreditation scoring is increasingly built around the share of a school's students holding TOPIK 3 or 4, not just individual applications

Almost every points-based residency track treats a TOPIK score as some of the cheapest points available — cheaper than most other line items on the same form.

Soo, what?

A pattern our team sees often at Soo House: someone spends months studying toward a TOPIK level tied to a real deadline — a GKS application, an E-7-M eligibility date, a work-permit renewal — then treats the exam date itself as the flexible part, something to lock in "once I feel ready." It isn't flexible. Every 2026 round closed its registration weeks before the actual exam, and the Speaking test only ran three times all year. Put the exam date on the calendar the same day you set the target level, not after.

Soo House — the platform connecting foreign residents and expats in Korea to campaigns, classes and each other — runs its own Business Korean class for exactly the gap TOPIK doesn't close: the exam measures grammar and vocabulary in a controlled setting, not the sentence you actually need when a manager asks something off-script mid-shift.

Quick answers

Do I need TOPIK to study or work in Korea?

Not always — plenty of visas and programs don't require it. But it's frequently the fastest, cheapest way to add points to a visa application, shorten a scholarship's language year, or unlock extra part-time work hours, so skipping it usually means doing something harder or slower instead.

Can I retake it if I don't hit the level I need?

Yes. There's no limit on attempts, and a later, higher score simply replaces the earlier one wherever you submit it — but check the registration window early, since Korea only ran six PBT rounds, six IBT rounds and three Speaking rounds in all of 2026.

Does an overseas TOPIK sitting cost the same as inside Korea?

No. The fees in this guide are Korea's domestic rates. Overseas fees and registration periods are set by each country's local administering institution — confirm both directly with them before assuming anything here applies.

Where to check

  • topik.go.kr — official registration, schedules and results
  • niied.go.kr — the National Institute for International Education, which runs TOPIK on the Ministry of Education's behalf
  • studyinkorea.go.kr — how a TOPIK score feeds into GKS specifically
  • Hi Korea or the 1345 immigration hotline — how a score feeds into a specific visa's points

Your Next Hop: if a visa, scholarship or work permit in your plans names a TOPIK level, check today's date against the next open registration window — not the exam date. By the time a round opens, it's often already the deadline that matters.

Checked August 31, 2026 against the Ministry of Education's official 2026 TOPIK implementation notice (공고 제2025-317호, issued October 10, 2025, via topik.go.kr and NIIED), for test dates, fees, score bands, ID rules and misconduct penalties. Cross-references to GKS, KIIP, student work permits, E-7-M and university accreditation figures point to this site's own guides on each, current as of their own publication dates. TOPIK's schedule, fees and rules are set fresh each year — confirm anything time-sensitive at topik.go.kr before relying on it.

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