Admissions to secondary school in May to be possible from 2015

Students can get admitted up to May as the limitation of the admission period for middle and high schools will be abolished from next year. In addition, high school students can transfer to a school in an area other than the place of their residence. According to the Education Ministry, "The revised enforcement decree, which eases regulations in elementary, middle and high schools, has passed the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and will apply to schools.

Currently, students cannot get admitted to a middle or a high school after 30 days from the start of an academic year. Those who are sick or fail to return to Korea from abroad during an admission period are admitted to a school a year later than the same age peer group. In order to solve this, the Education Ministry changed the regulation so that students can join a school any time during an academic year like a transfer or a re-admission as long as they have no problem in completing a curriculum. As completing a curriculum requires finishing at least two-thirds of an entire academic course, admissions in fact would be allowed until the beginning or middle of May.

Currently students can apply for a transfer to a different high school only after they complete the change of their residence. However, the revised decree will enable them to transfer to a different school without moving to the area of the school.

For example, if a student, who studied at a high school in Seoul and then went abroad, has to return to Korea because of their parent who starts working in Gyeonggi Province, the student has to transfer to a high school in Seoul and then transfer again to a school in Gyeonggi Province. Under the new decree, however, the student will be able to directly transfer to a high school in Gyeonggi Province. The decree change would also enable students who stopped studying at a high school in the northern region of Seoul to transfer to a high school in southern Seoul. As each city or province has slightly different requirements for a transfer, however, each city or provincial education office should modify the regulation in detail by February next year.

Currently, people can get their education recognized in Korea only when they officially complete a curriculum in countries other than Korea. However, the change will allow those who have a proven academic qualification in other countries, which is equivalent to the passage of a qualification exam for college entrance in Korea, to get admitted to a school in Korea going forward.

Regulations on high school admissions will also be eased significantly. The graduate of a specialized middle school can apply for only one high school in the place of his or her residence for now. However, the graduate will be able to apply for a high school in the place of his/her residence or a high school in the place of his/her middle school under the new change.

A student who fails to get admitted to a specialized high school in a special program can also apply for the same school in a general program.

In addition, a qualification exam for college entrance will change its name to a qualification exam for graduation starting from February. For example, a qualification exam for “middle school entrance” will be changed to a qualification exam for “elementary school graduation”.