The deadline for failing grades at most medical schools ended at midnight on the 30th of last month. Amid indications that the number of students who returned to classes to avoid final failing grades is minimal, there are observations that a collective failing situation among medical students has become a reality. If many students do not express their intention to participate in classes, the reality of 'tripling'—where freshmen from the 2024, 2025, and 2026 cohorts take first-year classes simultaneously—will be inevitable.
According to the Ministry of Education, each medical school confirmed the list of students failing grades as of midnight on April 30. Procedures for students who have not expressed their intention to participate in classes by that time will be carried out.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education requested each university via an official document on the 29th of last month to submit information regarding ▲failing grade status ▲expulsion status ▲educational operation plans and measures to protect learning rights. It included inquiries about when the cause for failing grades, such as insufficient attendance days, would occur, when to inform students who are no longer meaningfully participating in classes, and how many students are likely to fail grades. The number of likely failing grade students also included cases where attendance days could not be confirmed or were difficult to confirm due to online classes.
The dates for the confirmation of failing grades and the meeting of the committee for grade assessment are also under investigation. The Ministry of Education requested that the grade assessment committee, which typically meets at the end of the semester or academic year, be held as early as possible for the early confirmation of failing students if classes are not resumed by the 30th.
On the 17th of last month, the Ministry of Education reduced the number of admissions for the 2026 academic year's medical school enrollment from 5,058 to the pre-increase level of 3,058 and urged medical students to return to classes. However, despite the freeze on enrollment numbers, it is reported that only 3 out of 10 students attended classes as of the end of last month. If medical students did not suddenly decide to return just before the deadline the previous day, 7 out of 10 may face failing procedures.
The triple class system for the first semester of the 2026 academic year has become a looming reality. Both the Ministry of Education and universities are now preparing for this situation. Dong-A University and Jeonbuk National University have already made revisions to their academic regulations to grant priority registration to the class of 2026, and other universities are also likely to adopt similar methods based on the status of failing grades.
There are ongoing discussions about relaxing transfer-related regulations limited to the number of vacancies in medical schools. Universities categorize ratings based on four essential requirements: land and buildings, faculty, and revenue-generating basic properties. If rated 1, they can fill all vacancies, while the lowest rating, 6, allows only up to 15% of the total vacancies to be filled through transfers. Some universities are reportedly asking the Ministry of Education to ease the requirements for transfers to medical school. Following the Ministry of Education's collection of results on the 7th, most universities are expected to finalize large-scale measures for failing grades.
Some medical students who have not returned reportedly hope that the new government will rescue non-returning students through measures for academic flexibility after its launch in June. In response, the Council of Deans for the Advancement of Medical Education and the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Graduate Schools (KAMC) dismissed this as "a futile expectation that cannot be confirmed or verified." Lee Jong-tae, director of KAMC, met with reporters the previous day and noted, "You can consider that the issue of academic closure has been effectively determined as failing grades as of today,".