Starting this year, Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) scores will be used in admissions at universities in Vietnam. This is the second time TOPIK has been reflected in overseas university admissions, following Hong Kong last year.
According to the Ministry of Education on the 3rd, Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training granted official approval on the 12th of last month to use TOPIK scores in college admissions.
Vietnam's college admissions system is centered on the nationwide "high school graduation exam." It is similar to Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test. Vietnamese students must take Vietnamese and math on the graduation exam, and choose two subjects from nine, including foreign languages and history, for a total of four subjects.
The Vietnamese government has allowed TOPIK scores to substitute for the foreign language subject in the graduation exam. Students who obtain TOPIK level 3 or higher are exempted from one elective subject on the graduation exam, and the converted TOPIK score is recognized as the graduation exam score.
The Ministry of Education said, "This decision reflects the elevated status of Korean in Vietnam and the high level of trust in the credibility of TOPIK."
Vietnam adopted Korean as a second foreign language in 2020 and designated it in 2021 as a first foreign language and as a subject on the high school graduation exam. For TOPIK administered in Vietnam, a central administrator dispatched by the Korean Education Center oversees the exam, and measures such as deploying local police to test sites are in place to prevent and manage cheating.
Meanwhile, Korean language education is currently conducted in regular elementary, middle, and high schools in 47 countries worldwide. Of these, 24 countries have officially adopted Korean as a second foreign language, and 11 countries reflect it in college admissions.