South Korea 7th Grade Civil Service 2026 English Scores

South Korea's 2026 7th-grade national civil-service second-stage exam takes place on September 19. English is not a paper on that date because an approved external score replaces the English subject.

The general threshold is TOEIC 700, TOEFL iBT 71, TEPS 340, G-TELP Level 2 score 65, or FLEX 625. A candidate needed a qualifying, verifiable result before the July first stage.

The first-stage results are already out: 4,816 candidates advanced. Start a free SpeakShark conversation for general workplace fluency, then use the Korean government portal for score eligibility.

Key takeaways

• The second-stage exam is September 19, 2026.
• TOEIC needs 700.
• TOEFL iBT needs 71.
• TEPS needs 340.
• G-TELP needs Level 2 score 65.
• FLEX needs 625.

In this guide: calendar | scores | not accepted | validity | preregistration | September | competition | comparison | method | FAQ

2026 7th-grade calendar

The English qualification belonged to first-stage eligibility even though the score comes from an external provider. The September 19 event is the next competitive written stage, not a late opportunity to submit a new English test.

Candidates should check the job-series paper and venue notice because second-stage subjects differ by recruitment category.

The annual schedule remains subject to official change. The government recruitment account and individual notice control admission.

Official English substitution scores

One qualifying test replaces the English subject. The scores are thresholds, not bonus points added to the September exam.

A TOEIC 699 does not average with another test. A candidate must meet the minimum inside one accepted result.

The product name matters. The TOEIC threshold refers to the accepted TOEIC result in the government table, not every assessment sold under the TOEIC brand.

For current commercial calendars, see TOEIC dates in South Korea and G-TELP dates in South Korea. Those September dates are useful for future cycles, not retroactive July eligibility.

OPIc and speaking tests do not replace this English subject

The score-preregistration service has a wider catalogue than the national 7th-grade substitution table.

This distinction prevents a common error: registration capability is not the same as acceptance for one recruitment exam.

For speaking products, read OPIc Korea format, OPIc September dates, OPIc levels, OPIc versus TOEIC Speaking, and TOEIC Speaking format.

2021 date boundary and score verification

The current 2026 candidate page states that qualifying domestic tests taken on or after January 1, 2021 can be recognized when the score was published by the day before the first-stage test and can be verified.

For the July 18 first stage, the practical final publication date was July 17.

Foreign test locations have narrower named treatment. The current page specifically mentions overseas TOEFL, TOEIC taken in Japan and G-TELP taken in the United States, subject to threshold and verification.

Candidates should not assume every overseas delivery is automatically verifiable.

How language-score preregistration works

Preregistration preserves a provider-verifiable score for approved government and public-institution use for up to five years.

The core sequence is:

1. Log in to the national civil-service recruitment system.
2. Choose the language test.
3. Consent to data collection and use.
4. Authenticate with the testing provider.
5. Select the still-valid score.
6. Confirm that it appears in the registered-score list.

The critical timing rule is before provider expiry. Once the testing organization can no longer return the score for verification, preregistration cannot restore it.

Several scores can be registered. That does not change the exam's minimum or allow two low scores to combine.

Local government, National Assembly, police, coast guard and fire-service users can share registered scores under their own adoption and recognition rules, commonly up to five years. Each hiring body still needs to be checked.

What the September 19 stage still tests

English substitution removes one language paper, not the complete competition.

The 7th-grade route has:

1. First-stage public-service aptitude testing.
2. A job-series second-stage written examination.
3. Third-stage interviews.

The second-stage paper can eliminate candidates who already met English and Korean-history qualification rules.

Likewise, English qualification does not predict interview performance. General professional speaking can include English job interview role plays, office small talk, adult English conversation topics, and practice speaking alone. Start free speaking practice without treating it as civil-service assessment practice.

25,650 applicants and 4,816 first-stage successes

The Ministry reported:

About 18.8% of applicants appear in the first-stage-success count, but that is not a uniform pass rate for every job series. Absences, categories, regional-talent additions and recruitment-specific cutoffs affect the comparison.

The 4,816 candidates now compete through September papers and November interviews for the planned positions.

English substitution is a gate shared across this field; it is not the variable that alone ranks the remaining candidates.

5th-grade and diplomat thresholds

The same five English test families use higher or equal thresholds across related routes.

The general 7th-grade threshold matches the general 5th-grade row. Diplomat selection is higher in every listed English test.

Diplomat candidates also have separate foreign-language evidence rules. Those should not be inferred from the English table alone.

Compare other national systems such as Japan civil-service English bonus points, Spain National Police certificate points, Canada federal SLE, and U.S. Foreign Service test.

How we researched this guide

On August 28, 2026, we checked the current Korean government recruitment self-diagnosis page, 2026 annual calendar, July score-verification notice, August first-stage result release and language-score preregistration guide.

The current pages supplied the five thresholds, 2021 date boundary, July 17 publication cutoff, September 19 stage and four-month remaining schedule. The preregistration guide supplied the provider-expiry and five-year-use rules.

We kept OPIc and speaking scores outside the national 7th-grade substitution table even though they appear in broader preregistration services. We did not use SpeakShark customer data.

We are a speaking improvement tool. We are not an exam preparation provider, and we are not affiliated with South Korea's Ministry of Personnel Management, the national civil-service recruitment system or any exam board. For test format, booking and official practice material, go to the exam body directly. Use SpeakShark to make your spoken English stronger, and use official material to learn the test.

FAQ

The second-stage written exam is September 19, 2026. Results are published October 29, interviews run November 23 through November 26, and final results are due December 11. The first-stage exam took place July 18 and its 4,816 successful candidates were announced August 18.

The general 7th-grade public recruitment threshold is TOEIC Listening and Reading 700 or higher. The accepted alternatives are TOEFL iBT 71, TEPS 340, G-TELP Level 2 score 65 and FLEX 625. Meeting one threshold establishes the English qualification but does not add marks to the September subject exam.

No. The national civil-service substitution table names TOEFL, TOEIC, TEPS, G-TELP and FLEX. The language-score preregistration service also supports OPIc and speaking products for other participating uses, but appearing in the wider preregistration service does not make those tests valid substitutes for the general 7th-grade English requirement.

The current 2026 candidate page states that a qualifying test taken in South Korea on or after January 1, 2021 can be recognized when its score was published and verified by the day before the first-stage exam. Provider-expiring scores must have been preregistered while they were still verifiable.

Preregistration stores a still-valid language result before the testing provider's verification period expires, allowing approved public-sector users to apply it for up to five years. A score that has already expired and can no longer be verified cannot be preregistered retroactively, so registration must happen before the provider's validity ends.

The Ministry of Personnel Management reported 25,650 applicants for 668 planned positions, an average of 38.4 applicants per place. After the July first stage, 4,816 candidates advanced. Those figures describe the overall recruitment field; each job series has its own places and later-stage competition.

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Sources

1. 2026 eligibility and English-score table, checked for thresholds and date rules.
2. 2026 national recruitment calendar, checked for all 7th-grade stages.
3. August first-stage result release, checked for 4,816 candidates and September 19.
4. Language-score preregistration guide, checked for provider verification and five-year use.
5. 2026 7th-grade score-verification notice, checked for first-stage score handling.
6. Ministry 7th-grade competition report, checked for applicants and positions.
7. SpeakShark pricing, checked for current free and paid options.

The Ministry can update evidence and stage instructions. Confirm the official recruitment account before each deadline.