TOPIK II
- Items
- 104
- Points
- 300
- Minutes
- 180
- Grades it awards
- 3급 · 4급 · 5급 · 6급
Section by section
| Section | Sitting | Items | Points | Minutes | Per item |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 듣기listening | 1 | 50 | 100 | 60 | 72s |
| 쓰기writing | 1 | 4 | 100 | 50 | — |
| 읽기reading | 2 | 50 | 100 | 70 | 84s |
| Total | 104 | 300 | 180 |
"Per item" is the section's own minutes divided by its own items — the pace the paper is set at, not a recommendation. Reading is the tightest of them and the one candidates leave unfinished.
What is on it
The first sitting is listening and writing back to back with one clock over both, and the second is reading. That order is worth planning around: the writing comes when you are already an hour in, and the reading — the longest section, and the one people run out of time on — is sat fresh.
The material is the whole upper ladder: news and current affairs, workplace and academic Korean, the 한자어 layer that makes intermediate vocabulary compound, indirect speech, and the formal written register the essays have to be produced in. Idiom and proverb appear from 4급 upward.
Writing · 100 points
Details-
51 빈칸에 알맞은 말 쓰기 10 pts
Complete two blanks in a short practical text (a notice, an email)
분량 one sentence each
-
52 빈칸에 알맞은 말 쓰기 10 pts
Complete two blanks in an expository paragraph
분량 one sentence each
-
53 자료를 설명하는 글 쓰기 30 pts
Describe a chart, survey or set of figures in prose
분량 200~300자
-
54 주제에 대해 자신의 생각을 쓰기 50 pts
Argue a position on a given topic
분량 600~700자
What each grade costs
| Grade | Score needed | Of 300 | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOPIK 3 | 120 | 40% | Lower Intermediate — Live day to day in Korean without much difficulty, use public services and hold social relationships. |
| TOPIK 4 | 150 | 50% | Upper Intermediate — Follow the news and straightforward newspaper articles, and handle general social and abstract topics. |
| TOPIK 5 | 190 | 63% | Advanced — Carry out research or professional work in your field and use formal and written registers correctly. |
| TOPIK 6 | 230 | 77% | Mastery — Perform research and professional duties accurately and fluently, close to a native speaker. |
Three things worth doing
Practise finishing.
Reading is the section that runs out, and the longest passages are at the end. Working the last twenty items first is a legitimate strategy and many candidates use it.
Do not skip 쓰기.
It is a third of the paper and it is the section most candidates under-prepare, which makes it the cheapest place to gain twenty points.
Write in the plain style.
Items 53 and 54 must be written in 문어체 — the 한다체 you read in newspapers — not in 해요체. It costs marks every sitting.
The material this paper draws on
Common questions
What is a good TOPIK II score?
It depends entirely on the grade you need, and the bands are far apart: the first grade the paper awards asks for 40% of it, while the top grade asks for more than three-quarters. Aim at the cut-off for the grade you actually need rather than at a percentage.
Can I get 3급 from TOPIK II if I do badly?
That is exactly how it works — the paper awards whatever grade your total reaches, from 3급 up to 6급. What it cannot do is award 1급 or 2급: below the 3급 cut-off there is no grade at all.
How long is TOPIK II?
Two sittings on the same day. Listening and writing run together in the first, with reading in the second — three hours of exam in total, plus the break between them.
Check before you rely on this. The shape of the exam — sections, item counts, timing and the score each 급 is awarded at — is hand-entered from TOPIK's published 시행 계획 and is the one part of this site with no machine-readable source behind it. It is reviewed once a year. Confirm the current figures at topik.go.kr before you register, and treat the exam calendar as theirs alone — it is not published here, because a stale date is worse than no date.