TOPIK Exam 2026: Levels, Fees & Dates in India

13 min read · Published on August 10, 2026 · Updated on August 12, 2026

TOPIK is the Test of Proficiency in Korean, the official language exam run by Korea’s National Institute for International Education (NIIED). If you are applying from India, choose TOPIK I for Levels 1 to 2 or TOPIK II for Levels 3 to 6, then use the notice for the exact Indian round because dates, centres and seat limits change. The 108th round has a Mumbai consulate notice for 18 October 2026, while the next confirmed Korean Education Centre (KEC) New Delhi sitting is the 109th TOPIK on 15 November 2026.

India uses locally published registration dates and seat limits, not the Korean domestic application window. A TOPIK score is also not a universal admission condition. Some universities accept English instead, while Korean-taught programmes and post-admission rules can require a specific level.

When and where can you sit TOPIK in India?

India doesn’t host every international round, and different official channels can administer different sittings. The table keeps only dates supported by the current Korean Education Centre India portal or a current Korean diplomatic-mission notice.

Round	Test date	Status on 10 August 2026	India detail
105th	12 April 2026	Finished	New Delhi, Bengaluru and Manipur
107th	5 July 2026	Finished	Listed by the KEC India portal
108th	18 October 2026	India notice published 16 July	The Korean Consulate in Mumbai notice board carries the India notice
109th	15 November 2026	New Delhi registration dates published	KEC New Delhi prints 12 to 14 August, 10:00 AM, without explaining whether the time is the opening time or a daily time

The KEC registration-status page is labelled New Delhi and does not confirm another Indian city for the 109th. Because its 10:00 AM wording is ambiguous, applicants should be ready before 10 AM on 12 August and follow any instruction displayed inside the portal. A centre used in an older round is not confirmation for this sitting.

The 108th and 109th are administered through different official notice channels. The Mumbai consulate notice board carries the 108th, while the KEC India registration portal carries the 109th. A date on one page does not confirm a seat or venue on the other.

For the 109th round’s Asia timetable, TOPIK I entry closes at 9.10 AM IST for a 9.40 to 11.20 AM exam. TOPIK II entry closes at 12.20 PM for a 12.50 to 2.40 PM first session, then entry is at 3 PM for a 3.10 to 4.20 PM second session.

The official 109th TOPIK schedule gives 22 December 2026 as the result date. It is published in the Korean diplomatic network’s 109th TOPIK notice, and KEC India has not published a different local result date. An exam held before a university deadline cannot support the application if its result is released afterwards.

How do you register for TOPIK in India?

New Delhi registration proceeds through the KEC India portal in four stages, form submission, KEC selection, payment and payment verification before the admit card appears. The current process is first-come, first-served, and the Korean domestic TOPIK application page is not the India form.

A submitted form isn’t a confirmed seat. KEC states the rule directly.

Submission of the application form does not guarantee successful registration.
Korean Education Centre India, application guidelines

KEC says initial verification normally takes 2 to 4 days and keeps 50 additional applications on a reserve list. Its confirmation email records conditional selection and provides payment access. Payment verification then takes about 1 to 2 weeks, after which the admit card appears in the dashboard without a separate payment-confirmation email. The admit card is the final evidence that registration is complete.

The official 102nd TOPIK India notice listed 434 seats per paper in Delhi, 150 in Bengaluru and 100 in Manipur. These older figures do not establish the 109th capacity, but they show that each centre can set a finite limit.

Payment must follow KEC confirmation. Its current rules say payments made before the registration date, by unconfirmed applicants, or as duplicates will not be refunded. Duplicate forms are prohibited. An incorrect email address, photograph or identity detail can disqualify the form and move the seat to the reserve list.

What are the six TOPIK levels and the exact score cut-offs?

Paper-based TOPIK I awards Levels 1 and 2 out of 200, while TOPIK II awards Levels 3 to 6 out of 300. The current NIIED TOPIK overview sets the total-score cut-offs below, with no separate pass mark per section.

Paper	Level	Score needed	Out of
TOPIK I	Level 1	80 to 139	200
TOPIK I	Level 2	140 to 200	200
TOPIK II	Level 3	120 to 149	300
	Level 4	150 to 189
	Level 5	190 to 229
	Level 6	230 to 300

A score below 80 on TOPIK I or below 120 on TOPIK II receives no certified level. NIIED does not award a Level 0.

You choose which paper to sit, and the paper caps your level. TOPIK I can never award more than Level 2. If a course, scholarship or university rule asks for Level 3 or above, you must sit TOPIK II even when your likely score is near its lower cut-off.

For scale, Level 1 corresponds to roughly 800 basic words and Level 2 to around 1,500 to 2,000. Level 6 is described officially as not reaching native-speaker level but having no difficulty in function or expression.

What can each TOPIK level be used for?

Level 3 is a common minimum for Korean-language admission evidence, while Level 5 or 6 can remove the GKS language year, but the exact use depends on the programme. The official Seoul National University Fall 2026 undergraduate guide, for example, accepts TOPIK Level 3, TOEFL iBT 80, IELTS 6.0 or TEPS 269 as alternative language evidence.

A department may set a higher Korean requirement, and the same university may apply separate language conditions after admission. The current Korea University international guide therefore has to be read at the exact major and intake level.

Graduate language requirements also vary by programme, as the current South Korea master’s routes show for research degrees, business programmes and funded lab study.

Target	Practical implication
Level 1 or 2	Beginner certification. TOPIK I cannot award a higher level
Level 3 or 4	Common university language bands, but the required level depends on the course, track and intake
Level 5 or 6	Can remove the full GKS Korean language year when submitted under the applicable scholarship rule

The GKS scholarship rules set the cycle-specific evidence deadline. Regular admission decisions also depend on the programme’s teaching language, which differs across the South Korean universities compared here.

What is on the TOPIK I and TOPIK II papers?

TOPIK I contains Listening and Reading for 100 minutes, while TOPIK II adds Writing and runs for 180 minutes. The current NIIED overview gives the full paper-based structure below.

Paper detail	TOPIK I	TOPIK II
Sections	Listening, Reading	Listening, Writing, Reading
Questions	30 listening (40 min), 40 reading (60 min)	50 listening (60 min), 4 writing (50 min), 50 reading (70 min)
Total time	100 minutes	180 minutes
Total marks	200	300
Levels awarded	1 to 2	3 to 6

TOPIK II Writing is the only section that is not multiple choice. Its four questions include two sentence-completion items and two essays. The intermediate essay runs 200 to 300 characters, while the advanced argumentative essay runs 600 to 700 characters.

NIIED also lists a separate TOPIK Speaking test with six items in 30 minutes. It has its own Level 1 to Level 6 score scale and is not part of either TOPIK I or TOPIK II. Do not use a Speaking result as an admissions substitute unless the named programme explicitly accepts it.

What does TOPIK cost in India, and how long is a score valid?

The last readable official India fee was 1,200 rupees for TOPIK I and 1,500 rupees for TOPIK II, and a score remains valid for two years from its result date. The fee comes from the Korean Embassy in India’s 102nd exam notice for October 2025. The KEC portal had not displayed the 109th fee by 10 August 2026. Treat 1,200 and 1,500 rupees as the last official India rate, not a confirmed 109th price, until your payment page states it.

Validity is two years from the result announcement date, not the test date. NIIED’s current examinee guidance states that rule and says certificates are issued through the TOPIK website. For the 108th exam, validity therefore begins on 10 December 2026, not 18 October.

That gap matters when you are timing an application. Sitting the 109th on 15 November 2026 gives you a score announced on 22 December 2026, valid until December 2028.

Can you take TOPIK on a computer in India?

No Indian internet-based TOPIK (IBT) sitting is confirmed in the official round material used here. That does not prove IBT is unavailable, but the paper-based test (PBT) is the only current planning basis unless a later notice names an Indian IBT centre.

IBT does not use the PBT score scale. NIIED currently lists TOPIK I IBT as 52 items, 70 minutes and 400 marks, with Level 1 at 121 to 235 and Level 2 at 236 to 400. TOPIK II IBT is 63 items, 125 minutes and 600 marks. Its cut-offs are Level 3 at 191 to 290, Level 4 at 291 to 360, Level 5 at 361 to 430 and Level 6 at 431 to 600.

EPS-TOPIK is a different exam and is not offered through India

EPS-TOPIK is an employment exam, not an academic language certificate, and HRD Korea lists no Indian sending organisation. A sending organisation is the government-authorised body that registers workers from a participating country for the Employment Permit System. The official HRD Korea test page gives a 40-question, 50-minute structure scored out of 200, with selection tied to a country quota.

It is 40 questions in 50 minutes, and it awards no level at all. It is scored on a relative, rank-ordered basis against an industry quota
Registration runs through each participating country’s designated sending organisation
India does not appear in HRD Korea’s current registration-office or 2025 country statistics lists

For a Korean degree or D-2 study route, the university’s academic TOPIK requirement applies. The broader South Korea study route shows where language evidence sits in admission and visa planning.

Key takeaways

The 109th TOPIK is on 15 November 2026. KEC New Delhi prints 12 to 14 August, 10:00 AM, but does not explain whether the time applies only when registration opens or on every date.
A submitted form is not a seat. KEC’s email records conditional selection, payment follows, and the admit card is final evidence of completed registration.
TOPIK is not a universal admission requirement. The exact course and intake guide may accept English instead.
Level 5 or 6 can remove the full one-year GKS Korean language programme under the applicable scholarship rule.
TOPIK I caps you at Level 2. If you need Level 3 or above, you must sit TOPIK II.
The last readable official India fee was 1,200 rupees for TOPIK I and 1,500 for TOPIK II. The 109th fee was not displayed on 10 August.
IBT has different question counts, totals and level cut-offs from the paper test.
EPS-TOPIK is a separate employment exam and is not offered through an Indian sending organisation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the TOPIK exam fee in India?

The last readable Korean Embassy in India notice charged 1,200 rupees for TOPIK I and 1,500 rupees for TOPIK II. It covered the October 2025 sitting, not the 109th round. KEC had not displayed the 109th fee by 10 August 2026, so the confirmed payment instruction remains authoritative.

Which TOPIK level do you need to study in Korea?

There is no single national admission level. SNU’s general 2026 undergraduate language condition accepts TOPIK Level 3 or specified English scores, while departments and other universities may set different rules. The exact course, teaching language and intake guide matter more than one university-wide number.

How long is a TOPIK score valid?

A TOPIK score is valid for two years from the result announcement date, not the exam date. The 109th exam is scheduled for 15 November 2026 and its result for 22 December 2026. For any planned application, both the result date and the later expiry date have to fit the intake.

Where is TOPIK conducted in India?

The centres change by round. The 105th official notice named New Delhi, Bengaluru and Manipur. The 108th has a separate Mumbai consulate notice, while KEC’s current 109th public registration page is labelled New Delhi. Only the current round’s official notice establishes a venue and seat.

What is the difference between TOPIK I and TOPIK II?

Paper-based TOPIK I tests Listening and Reading over 100 minutes for 200 marks and awards Levels 1 to 2. TOPIK II adds Writing, lasts 180 minutes for 300 marks and awards Levels 3 to 6. If your course requires Level 3 or higher, TOPIK I cannot satisfy it.

What score do you need for TOPIK Level 5?

For the paper-based TOPIK II, Level 5 requires 190 to 229 out of 300. Level 6 starts at 230. IBT uses a different 600-mark scale, where NIIED currently places Level 5 at 361 to 430. The cut-off must match the test format shown on the registration.

Can Indian students take EPS-TOPIK?

EPS-TOPIK is not offered through an Indian sending organisation on HRD Korea’s current registration lists. It is an employment test for the Employment Permit System, not an academic language certificate for university admission. NIIED’s academic TOPIK is the relevant exam for Indian students planning a Korean degree.

Is TOPIK IBT available in India?

No Indian IBT sitting was confirmed in the official round material read for this update. The paper test is the only confirmed planning basis unless a current NIIED or Indian administering-body notice names an IBT centre. IBT also has different question counts, totals and score cut-offs from PBT.

TOPIK Exam Guide for Indian Students (Levels, Fees, Dates)