How TOPIK I and TOPIK II award levels 1 to 6 by score, what each level certifies, and how many words each band takes, with a free word list and practice test for each band.
The Test of Proficiency in Korean is run by Korea's National Institute for International Education and awards six levels, 1 to 6. Unlike the JLPT or HSK, you do not book a level: you book one of two papers, and your score on it decides which level you get. TOPIK I awards levels 1 and 2, TOPIK II awards levels 3 to 6. That design is why Korean word lists are banded rather than listed per level: the National Institute of Korean Language grades its learner vocabulary as beginner, intermediate and advanced, and those three bands are what this site's lists follow.
| Level | What it certifies | Words you need | Free on this site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | TOPIK I, 80 points or more. Basic survival Korean: introducing yourself, ordering, buying, simple everyday sentences. | the beginner band, about 800 words of it | TOPIK I list, 1,844 wordsTOPIK I practice test |
| Level 2 | TOPIK I, 140 points or more. Everyday Korean on familiar topics such as phone calls, favours and daily routines, in simple paragraphs. | the full beginner band | TOPIK I list, 1,844 wordsTOPIK I practice test |
| Level 3 | TOPIK II, 120 points or more. Daily life and public situations in paragraphs, and the first formal and informal register distinctions. | the beginner and intermediate bands | TOPIK II Intermediate list, 2,154 wordsLevels 3 and 4 practice test |
| Level 4 | TOPIK II, 150 points or more. Work and social topics with some fluency, news and general articles understood. | the beginner and intermediate bands, securely | TOPIK II Intermediate list, 2,154 wordsLevels 3 and 4 practice test |
| Level 5 | TOPIK II, 190 points or more. Professional and academic Korean, political and cultural topics, formal and informal writing. | the advanced band on top | TOPIK II Advanced list, 2,561 wordsLevels 5 and 6 practice test |
| Level 6 | TOPIK II, 230 points or more. Near-native comprehension of complex and specialised material, fluent and accurate expression. | the advanced band, in full | TOPIK II Advanced list, 2,561 wordsLevels 5 and 6 practice test |
Papers. TOPIK I has two sections, listening (30 questions) and reading (40 questions), all multiple choice, in 100 minutes, marked out of 200. TOPIK II has three: listening (50 questions), writing (4 tasks, from sentence completion to a 600 to 700 character essay) and reading (50 questions), about three hours in all, marked out of 300. Neither paper has a speaking section; a separate TOPIK Speaking test exists.
Scores and levels. There is no pass or fail; your total decides your level. On TOPIK I, 80 points is level 1 and 140 is level 2. On TOPIK II, 120 is level 3, 150 is level 4, 190 is level 5 and 230 is level 6. Below 80 on TOPIK I or 120 on TOPIK II, no level is awarded. A TOPIK certificate is valid for two years from the results date.
Sittings. TOPIK is held six times a year in Korea and two to four times a year in most other countries, with registration about two months before each sitting and results about a month after. Dates and fees per country are on the official TOPIK site, and seats abroad fill quickly.
TOPIK publishes no vocabulary list, so the honest count is the one the National Institute of Korean Language attaches to its learner vocabulary bands, which TOPIK preparation is built on. The Lock&Learn lists follow those bands: 1,844 for TOPIK I, 2,154 for TOPIK II Intermediate, 2,561 for TOPIK II Advanced. The beginner band is what TOPIK I draws on; TOPIK II expects the intermediate band for levels 3 and 4 and the advanced band on top for levels 5 and 6.
On time, Korean language institutes at Korean universities run six ten-week terms of 200 hours each, one per level, which is the most concrete map there is: roughly 200 hours per TOPIK level for a full-time learner starting from zero, so 400 hours for level 2, 800 for level 4 and 1,200 for level 6. Self-study usually takes longer per level; a Japanese speaker, whose grammar runs the same way, faster.
TOPIK I if you are aiming for level 1 or 2, TOPIK II for level 3 and above. The free TOPIK I practice test and the two TOPIK II band tests on this site show where your vocabulary stands: fourteen of twenty right on the TOPIK I test means the beginner band is ready and TOPIK II is the paper to consider next.
Most Korean-taught undergraduate programmes ask for TOPIK level 3 to enter and level 4 to graduate; graduate programmes and the Global Korea Scholarship favour level 5 or 6. English-taught programmes often waive it. The requirement sits on the programme page, so read that rather than a general rule.
Level 6 certifies near-native comprehension and fluent, accurate expression on complex material, which is what most people mean by fluent. Level 4 is where everyday and working Korean become comfortable, and it is the most common requirement for jobs and the F-2 residence points system.
The beginner band, about 1,800 words in the National Institute of Korean Language's grading, covers TOPIK I. Add the intermediate band for TOPIK II levels 3 and 4, and the advanced band for levels 5 and 6. This site publishes all three as free lists, banded the way the institute bands them, with Lock&Learn Korean splitting each band into two packs by frequency.
Neither. Every candidate who scores at least 80 on TOPIK I or 120 on TOPIK II receives a level; the higher the score, the higher the level. Below those marks no level is awarded, which is the closest thing to failing.
Yes. The app is free on iOS: Beginner 1 is free, every other pack opens with a free preview, and another word unlocks daily. Lock&Learn+ is an optional upgrade that opens every pack at once, offered as a yearly plan or a one-time lifetime purchase.