Free guide · 11 minute read
TOPIK levels 1 to 6: scores, structure and real timelines
Updated 2026-08-11
Picture two people sitting the same exam day. One books TOPIK I, scores 155, and walks away certified at level 2. The other has roughly the same Korean, books TOPIK II because it sounds more serious, scores 110, and walks away with nothing at all. Same ability, same morning, and one of them has a certificate.
That is the thing worth understanding before anything else: you do not sit a level, you sit a paper, and the total score decides what you are awarded. Choose the wrong paper and a good performance certifies nothing.
This page covers the score bands, what each exam contains, and how long each level realistically takes. Where a number is not published by the exam board, it says so rather than inventing precision, which turns out to matter more than you would expect.
What are the TOPIK levels?
Six, numbered 1 to 6. TOPIK I awards level 1 or 2, TOPIK II awards levels 3 to 6. You choose which exam to sit, not which level to receive: one paper, and the total score decides. Score below the floor and no level is awarded, which is the outcome worth planning around.
The levels run from surviving a self-introduction at level 1 to functioning in academic and professional Korean at level 6. Level 3 is the usual practical threshold, since it is where daily life stops needing someone to help you through it, and levels 4 and above are what universities and employers tend to ask for.
What score do you need for each level?
On TOPIK I, out of 200: level 1 from 80, level 2 from 140. On TOPIK II, out of 300: level 3 from 120, level 4 from 150, level 5 from 190, level 6 from 230. The award is on your total, so a weak section can be carried by a strong one.
| Level | Exam | Total score | What it signals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | TOPIK I | 80 to 139 | Survival phrases, self-introduction, basic questions |
| Level 2 | TOPIK I | 140 to 200 | Everyday errands, simple conversation, familiar topics |
| Level 3 | TOPIK II | 120 to 149 | Daily life without help, familiar social situations |
| Level 4 | TOPIK II | 150 to 189 | News and general work topics, some abstract language |
| Level 5 | TOPIK II | 190 to 229 | Professional and academic use, unfamiliar subjects |
| Level 6 | TOPIK II | 230 to 300 | Near-native fluency in research and professional settings |
That the level comes off the total rather than per section is worth pausing on. Nothing forces you to clear a bar in writing specifically, so a candidate who reads well and writes badly can still take level 4. It also means a section you find impossible is survivable if the others carry it.
Should you take TOPIK I or TOPIK II?
Take TOPIK I if you are aiming for level 1 or 2. Take TOPIK II only if 120 points is genuinely within reach, because below that you receive no certificate at all, while the same ability on TOPIK I would have certified level 2. Ambition is not free here.
| Exam | Sections | Questions | Time | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOPIK I | Listening, Reading | 30 + 40 | 100 minutes | 200 points |
| TOPIK II | Listening, Writing, Reading | 50 + 4 + 50 | 180 minutes | 300 points |
TOPIK I is entirely multiple choice across listening and reading, in a single sitting of 100 minutes. There is no writing at all, which is why it suits beginners who can recognise far more Korean than they can produce.
TOPIK II adds writing, and the writing is the part people underestimate. Four tasks: two short answers, then a piece of roughly 200 to 300 characters on an everyday topic and an argumentative essay of about 600 to 700. The paper runs in two sittings, listening and writing together for 110 minutes, then reading for 70 after a break.
How many words do you need for each level?
Roughly 800 to 1,500 for TOPIK I and around 3,000 to 4,000 for levels 3 and 4, but these are estimates rather than requirements. The exam board does not publish a vocabulary list or a word count per level, and any page quoting exact figures is passing on someone else's approximation.
This deserves saying plainly because so many pages state these numbers as fact. There is no official TOPIK vocabulary syllabus. The figures in circulation descend from graded learner word lists compiled for teaching Korean rather than from the exam, and they have been copied between blogs long enough to acquire a false authority.
The useful version of the question is not how many words but which ones. Frequency is steep in every language: a small set of words accounts for most of what appears in any text, exam papers included. Learning in frequency order gets you further per hour than chasing a total, which is the argument the guide to learning Korean vocabulary makes at length.
How long does it take to reach each level?
For TOPIK I, a few months of consistent study is realistic. Level 3 is more often nine months to a year and a half, and level 6 is measured in years. The spread is enormous because prior languages, weekly hours and exposure to Korean vary more than any average can capture.
Rather than quote an hours figure with false precision, here is what the vocabulary side looks like against this course, where a level a week is a comfortable pace at roughly twenty minutes a day. The word counts are the course ladder; the TOPIK targets are the estimates discussed above.
| Target | Words often cited | Course level | At a level a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOPIK I, level 1 | 800 to 1,000 | level 20 | about 5 months |
| TOPIK I, level 2 | 1,500 to 2,000 | level 30 | about 7 months |
| TOPIK II, level 3 | 3,000 to 3,500 | level 45 | about 10 months |
| TOPIK II, level 4 | 4,000 or so | level 50 | about 11 months |
| TOPIK II, levels 5 and 6 | 5,000 and up | level 60 | about 14 months |
Two honest caveats. Vocabulary is necessary and not sufficient: TOPIK II tests writing, and no amount of words teaches essay structure. And a level a week assumes you keep going, which is the part that actually decides the timeline. A person doing fifteen minutes daily overtakes a person doing three hours every other Sunday within a couple of months.
The speaking test is a separate exam
TOPIK added a speaking assessment in 2022, and it is genuinely separate: you register for it on its own, it does not contribute to your TOPIK I or TOPIK II result, and it has its own level bands. It runs about thirty minutes across six tasks, is computer-based, and is marked out of 200.
Worth flagging because a large number of guides still state that TOPIK has no speaking component. That was true for years and has not been true since 2022. If an institution asks you for a speaking result, it is a separate sitting on a separate schedule.
How to study for a date in the diary
An exam date changes what good study looks like, because the deadline is fixed and your hours are not. Three things follow from that.
Work backwards from the paper you are sitting. TOPIK I rewards recognition, so listening and reading volume pays. TOPIK II rewards production, so essay practice under time cannot be left to the last fortnight. They are different preparations, not the same preparation at different intensities.
Do vocabulary daily and everything else in blocks. Words decay on a schedule, which is exactly what spaced repetition is built for. Essay practice and past papers do not decay the same way and suit longer, less frequent sessions.
Sit a past paper early, not late. It converts an abstract target into a score you can argue with, and it tells you which section is actually costing you points. Most people discover the answer is not the section they feared.
Which brings back the two candidates from the top of the page. Nothing separated them except the box they ticked at registration, weeks before either of them opened a textbook. Pick the paper you can clear, clear it, and sit the harder one next time with a certificate already in hand.
For the vocabulary half of that plan, the alphabet guide is the starting point if you are not yet reading Hangeul comfortably, and the 100 most common Korean words is where the frequency ordering begins.
The vocabulary half, on a schedule
Over 5,000 words ordered by how often Koreans use them, native audio on every one, and reviews that arrive right before you would forget. You type the Korean rather than recognise it, which is what an exam asks for. The first three levels are free.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the TOPIK levels?
- Six, numbered 1 to 6. TOPIK I awards level 1 or 2 and TOPIK II awards levels 3 to 6. You do not choose the level, only the exam: you sit one paper and the total score decides which level you are given, or none at all if you fall below the floor.
- What score do you need to pass TOPIK?
- On TOPIK I, marked out of 200, level 1 starts at 80 and level 2 at 140. On TOPIK II, marked out of 300, level 3 starts at 120, level 4 at 150, level 5 at 190 and level 6 at 230. Below 80 on TOPIK I or 120 on TOPIK II, no level is awarded.
- Should I take TOPIK I or TOPIK II?
- Take TOPIK I if you are aiming for level 1 or 2, and TOPIK II only if you can realistically reach 120 points, since scoring below that gives you no certificate at all. TOPIK II also adds a writing section with two essays, which TOPIK I does not have.
- How many words do you need for TOPIK level 3?
- Commonly cited figures put it somewhere around 3,000 to 3,500, but NIIED does not publish an official vocabulary count per level. Those numbers trace back to graded learner word lists rather than to the exam itself, so treat them as a target rather than a syllabus.
- How long does it take to pass TOPIK II?
- For level 3, most learners studying consistently need something like nine months to a year and a half from a standing start. Level 6 is measured in years rather than months. Anyone quoting a single confident number is selling something, because prior languages, study hours and exposure vary enormously.
- Is there a TOPIK speaking test?
- Yes, since 2022, but it is a separate exam rather than part of TOPIK I or II. It is computer-based, runs about 30 minutes across six tasks, is marked out of 200, and has its own six level bands. Many older guides still say TOPIK has no speaking component, which is now out of date.
- How long is a TOPIK certificate valid?
- Two years from the date the result is announced. Universities and employers generally want a certificate inside that window, so timing the exam against an application deadline matters as much as the score.
- Can you fail TOPIK?
- There is no pass or fail as such. You either score high enough to be awarded a level or you are awarded none. That is why sitting TOPIK II with level 2 ability is a poor trade: TOPIK I would have certified level 2, while TOPIK II below 120 certifies nothing.