After a month of postponement of the new school year, schools in Korea restarted in mid-April through online. The government had decided to gradually resume the face-to-face classes from 13 May, beginning with the 12th graders as the country has reported fewer than ten new infection cases per day for a week. ^[1] 

However, schools will stay closed for another week after a fresh surge in coronavirus infections traced to nightclubs and bars in Seoul's Itaewon district. ^[2] High school seniors will go back to school on 20 May. Next will come children in the first and second grade of elementary school, and ninth and 11th graders as well as kindergartners on May 27. The rest will follow over the coming weeks. ^[3] 

According to the Ministry of Education, the school reopening schedule could change again, except for high school seniors, and no additional postponement is needed for the academic calendar related to college admission once the student can go back to the school by the end of May. ^[4] 

As of 13 May, all the critical academic schedules have been deferred for about two weeks, at least. ^[5] 

• The national academic evaluation will take place on the next day of school opening, which usually takes place in March and April to enable students to grasp their national competitiveness objectively. 

• The mid-term and final exams in the first semesters are likely to be moved to early June and later July. 

• The summer holiday will be almost cut in half from 30 days to 18 days, which will begin in mid-August. 

• The schedules of the college application for both early and regular admissions have been delayed for about two weeks, as the deadline for a transcript of school records is postponed by 16 days. 

• The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) has been postponed by two weeks to 3 December 2020. 

• The application will start in late September for early admission and early to mid-January for regular admission. 

• The successful candidates will be announced in late December 2020 for the early admission and early February 2021 for the regular admission. 

Commentary by Heather Eom, Education Services Manager, British Council Korea:  

The UK sector is recommended to defer the usual recruitment timeline in Korea for at least two weeks or up to a month. 

In general, Korean students tend to decide a strategic type of college admission, such as early or regular admission and sort out the possible institutions at the beginning of the 12th year based on their previous upper-high school records and the national academic evaluation results. However, the current 12th graders have not had the proper chance to do so and have only half of the preparation time than usual. 

The uncertainty and insufficiency towards college admission might allow consideration for alternatives to prestigious local universities as a backup plan. The students tend to look for other options when they have a low expectation of achieving to enter such universities. Studying abroad could be an option as they feel being in a disadvantageous position for the local college admission process for this year. The UK sector is suggested to communicate with the prospective students how they can take advantage of the UK’s college admission processes or policies for 2021 intake.

It is also advised to resume increasing brand awareness with a soft and indirect approach until summer holidays to stay relevant in the market, then move on sharing practical information about institutions and courses with the suggestion above when the students and their influencers can get around to search for alternative options for study destination.  

If you need further advice, please feel free to contact me via email (sunhyun.eom@britishcouncil.org). 

Sources: 

[1] https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/05/181_289350.html 

[2] https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200513002700320?section=economy/economy  

[3] http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/05/12/2020051201247.html 

[4] https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_202005111831189492 (Korean) 

[5] http://www.munhwa.com/news/view.html?no=2020042201071030128001 (Korean)