Last verified: September 21, 2026 · NIIED TOPIK formats, score ranges and official Study in Korea guidance reviewed.
TOPIK planning often starts with the wrong date.
People look at the next test, choose a target level and begin studying. If the score is needed for a Korean university, scholarship, job or immigration document, the useful date is somewhere else:
the day the score must be submitted.
Submission deadline → score announcement → test date → registration → preparation period.
This simple order can matter more than choosing another vocabulary book. A test taken before a university deadline is still useless for that application if the score is released after the application closes.
Korean language class · Photo: Mtrrrc / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
TOPIK I and TOPIK II answer different level questions
The current official system separates beginner Korean from intermediate-to-advanced Korean.
| Test | Sections | Time | Total score | Levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOPIK I PBT | Listening 30 + Reading 40 | 100 min | 200 | 1–2 |
| TOPIK I IBT | Listening 26 + Reading 26 | 70 min | 400 | 1–2 |
| TOPIK II PBT | Listening 50 + Reading 50 + Writing 4 | 180 min | 300 | 3–6 |
| TOPIK II IBT | Listening 30 + Reading 30 + Writing 3 | 125 min | 600 | 3–6 |
| TOPIK Speaking | Speaking 6 | 30 min | 200 | 1–6 |
The important detail is easy to miss: PBT and IBT do not use the same total score or level cutoffs.
For example, PBT TOPIK II Level 4 begins at 150 points, while IBT TOPIK II Level 4 begins at 291 points.
If a blog, forum or study group says “you need 150 for Level 4,” check which test it is discussing before using the number.
For university admission, read the university before the test guide
Korean-taught degree programs commonly ask for TOPIK, but there is no single universal level for every university and department.
Study in Korea explicitly tells applicants to check the requirement set by their individual institution or department.
It also notes that some universities may accept other language evidence, including KIIP records or a local King Sejong Institute completion certificate, depending on the school.
This means the sequence should be:
Do not choose Level 6 simply because it is the highest number.
If your program needs Level 3 or 4 and the application is close, the relevant question is whether you can secure the required score in time.
A test date can still be too late
Consider an illustrative case.
University application closes: October 20
TOPIK test: October 11
Score announcement: November
Result: the exam happened before the deadline, but its score still arrives too late for this application.
This is one of the most useful TOPIK checks because it is easy to miss when all attention is on the examination date.
The same logic matters for scholarships and any process requiring the score report itself.
Your existing score may still be usable
TOPIK scores are currently valid for two years from the score announcement date.
If you already hold the level required by your school, employer or program, check the expiry date before registering again.
A higher score may have value, but do not take another exam simply because the next registration window has opened.
TOPIK II writing changes the preparation plan
A learner can speak comfortably in everyday Korean and still find TOPIK II writing difficult.
The test asks for a different skill: completing written language under a fixed format, interpreting information and building a longer response within limited time.
That is why TOPIK II preparation should not be several months of listening and reading followed by one week of writing practice.
Open the writing section early.
TOPIK’s official site also offers PBT practice materials, TOPIK Basic and an IBT experience environment. The IBT tutorial is particularly useful because it shows how answers are entered on screen rather than leaving that discovery until test day.
Use the first mock test to find where time disappears
Do not look only at your total score.
Look at the pattern.
Did you leave ten reading questions unfinished?
Did the long listening passages cause most of the losses?
Did you reach the final TOPIK II writing task with too little time?
Those answers are more useful for building a study plan than the sentence “my Korean is intermediate.”
If the examination is close, reducing the largest predictable loss often matters more than studying every skill equally.
TOPIK and spoken Korean should not occupy the same box
TOPIK PBT and IBT I/II evaluate listening, reading and — at TOPIK II — writing. Speaking is a separate TOPIK test.
A high written score does not guarantee that a spontaneous conversation will feel easy.
If you plan to live in Korea, keep some actual speaking and unscripted listening in the week even during intensive test preparation.
The exam solves an official-document problem. Conversation solves a different problem once you arrive.
Watch a 2026 TOPIK preparation session
This current preparation session is useful for seeing the exam as a timed test rather than only as a list of grammar points. Official rules and scores in this article come from NIIED and TOPIK, not from the video.
A Korean Dessert
An official BTS debut-era video after a page full of score ranges and deadlines.
A quieter Seoul neighborhood break after the exam-planning work is done.