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Korean Qualification / Courses

Hello everyone. I'll get straight to the point. Basically I am interested in doing a Korean course to get some sort of qualification in it e.g. a GCSE, however I can't find any exam boards that provide Korean. I have taught myself Korean since I was around 12 and it's been around 3 and half years since i'm into Korean culture, kpop, k-dramas etc. I would say i'm in the intermediate level and like 3/4 fluent bc I can understand tv shows and stuff like that without English subtitles. So I basically require some sort of course that is similar to a GCSE or an actual GCSE if possible, and I will be fine without learning from the basics. If anyone is aware of any courses or exam boards that do Korean, could you please let me know and link it down below? Thanks.

Reply 1

sophia5892

Unfortunately given how rare Korean is in the UK, even as a university course (!), there’s no GCSE in it.

Cambridge offer an IGCSE but that’s in Korean (First Language) so I’d assume it’s more like an English GCSE than a Foreign Language GCSE.

Your best bet is you’d like proof of your proficiency is to take TOPIK:
http://www.koreaneducentreinuk.org/en/topik-test-of-proficiency-in-korea/?ckattempt=1

That’s the most common proficiency test for Korean. It’s used for things like university-entry for foreigners wanting to study in Korea, and so whilst institutions here might not be very familiar with it, it is an “official” respected test.

The website says it’s valid for 2 years. That doesn’t mean you lose your qualification as such. It just means it likely will not be recognised if you wanted to use it to get a visa or study.

It’s pretty standard with language proficiency tests to have a short validity for immigration purposes - basically because having a test from 5 years ago doesn’t prove you have that proficiency right now as you might never have used the language since.

But you’d still be able to say you achieved TOPIK at X level on X date.

I have a Spanish proficiency certificate that had a similar expiry. I still have the certificate to prove my grade, but I also got a code that I could give to people which could be entered online to authenticate the certificate for 2 years. So I can’t use it for official purposes now. But I can still list it on my CV and it’d be up to employers/unis in the UK whether they accepted it or not :smile: