Who is eligible to attend an international school in Korea?

1. A student having one or more parents holding a nationality that is not Korean as verified by an alien registration card and Korean family registry.

2. A student who has lived overseas for no less than 3 years (1,095 days) as verified by the “Entry and Exit Certificate” issued by the Korean immigration department.

3. A student currently enrolled at an accredited international school in Korea.

4. A student with 6 semesters of official report cards and a letter of attendance from an overseas school. Note: 6 semesters status applies only to Elementary year Grade 1 and above.

5. One or both parents are naturalized Korean citizens whose child is considered to be unable to continue study in the local school system (Grades 1-12), as determined by the deliberation of the school’s Operations Committee, and approved by the Principal of the local school.

When is the deadline for application?

KIS operates a rolling admissions program. Students in Pre-K through Grade 5 can enroll throughout the school year. It is recommended that applicants have all eligibility documentation and testing completed at least one month before the anticipated first day of school.

Do students need to take admissions tests?

We conduct a face-to-face assessment in English in order to ensure that your child will be successful when enrolled at KIS. Our assessments focus on speaking, listening, reading and writing; and are considered in conjunction with previous school reports and a teacher recommendation.

In some cases a remote interview and writing test can be granted to students who provide successful results on their report cards and a positive recommendation from teachers. Official standardized test scores of students applying for G2 to G5 should be submitted to be considered for a remote test.

For PK and JK applicants, a simple assessment will be conducted to determine their readiness for school. The face-to-face interview will include coloring, playing with puzzles, looking at books and similar activities. For families located outside of Seoul or those who cannot come to campus are permitted to arrange a virtual interview.

Admissions Criteria

To maintain the rigor of our educational approach, we have created admissions criteria that ensure our incoming students are ready to join our community. Our final decision is therefore based on a holistic evaluation of each applicant’s academic record(s), their extracurricular interests and their character. When a student is either accepted or rejected for admissions at KIS, it is based on all of the above mentioned factors. No single factor will guarantee or preclude a student from acceptance.

We evaluate students based on their performance in the following categories:

Transcripts / Report Cards

Each elementary student is required to submit their current plus previous two years official reports when relevant.

Letters of Recommendation

The letter of recommendation serves as a means to understand how the student is perceived in a social setting as well as how the teacher perceives the student in terms of current and future academic performance.

KIS Interview and Testing

The formal interview and testing processes are designed not only to measure the student’s current ability but also how they may respond to an objective evaluator.