TEPS Score & Grade Calculator

Overview

Enter your New TEPS section scores or your total and get your grade on the 600-point scale right away. New TEPS is made up of Listening (240 points), Vocabulary (60), Grammar (60) and Reading (240) across 135 questions in 105 minutes, and the total maps to ten grades from 1+ down to 5. The calculator shows your current grade, how many points separate you from the next one, how much each section contributes to your total, and whether you clear the main Korean cutoffs - 327 for the state-recognised certificate, 340 for grade-5 and grade-7 civil service, 452 for the foreign service candidate exam. If you fall short, it also works out what each single section would have to reach to close the gap.

Formula

Total = Listening + Vocabulary + Grammar + Reading (maximums 240 / 60 / 60 / 240, total 600)

New TEPS grade table (official, TEPS Council)
  1+ : 526-600
  1  : 453-525
  2+ : 387-452
  2  : 327-386
  3+ : 268-326
  3  : 212-267
  4+ : 163-211
  4  : 111-162
  5+ : 55-110
  5  : 0-54

Points to next grade = lower bound of the grade above - total
Section share (%) = section score / total x 100
Section attainment (%) = section score / section maximum x 100

Reverse calculation: for a target T, the gap is T - total. To close it with one section alone, that section needs its current score plus the gap; if the result exceeds the section maximum (240 for Listening and Reading, 60 for Vocabulary and Grammar), that section cannot get you there by itself.

State-recognised certificate threshold = 327 (grade 2) or above

How to Use

1. 1Choose whether to enter section scores (if you have your score report) or just the total.
2. 2For section entry, type Listening (0-240), Vocabulary (0-60), Grammar (0-60) and Reading (0-240) exactly as printed on the report.
3. 3Pick the cutoff you are aiming for - 340 for grade-5 and grade-7 civil service, 385 for the foreign service track, 452 for the foreign service candidate exam, 299 for KATUSA - or choose custom and type your own.
4. 4Read off your total, your grade, the points left to the next grade, and whether you qualify for the state-recognised certificate.
5. 5If you are short, check the single-section table to see which section could close the gap and which one cannot, even at its maximum.

Examples

Background

TEPS, the Test of English Proficiency developed by Seoul National University, is administered by the TEPS Council and was built domestically rather than imported. The New TEPS format introduced in May 2018 replaced the old 990-point, 200-question, 140-minute test with a 600-point, 135-question, 105-minute one, organised into Listening (40 questions, 240 points), Vocabulary (30 questions, 60 points), Grammar (30 questions, 60 points) and Reading (35 questions, 240 points). Section scores are not a simple count of correct answers: they come from an undisclosed item response theory conversion, so the same number of correct answers can yield different scores depending on item difficulty and the administration. Grades depend on the total alone, running from 1+ at 526 and above down to 5 at 54 and below. As a state-recognised private qualification under the Framework Act on Qualifications, a score of 327 or more (grade 2) earns a certificate treated on par with a national qualification. Appendix 3 of the Decree on Public Official Appointment Examinations sets the New TEPS cutoffs at 340 for grade-5 and grade-7 open competitive recruitment, 385 for the grade-7 equivalent foreign service track and 452 for the foreign service candidate exam - figures carried over from the old TEPS thresholds of 625, 710 and 870. The KATUSA selection cutoff was likewise moved from 380 to 299 for the 2023 intake when a new TEPS-TOEIC conversion table took effect.

Tips

• ✔The total is a plain sum of the four section scores, so adding the four numbers on your report is all it takes. Grading looks only at the total, never at the section split.
• ✔Listening and Reading are 240 points each, 80% of the test. Perfect Vocabulary and Grammar together come to just 120, far below the 327 certificate line, so score growth always runs through Listening and Reading.
• ✔Because Vocabulary and Grammar cap at 60, the gap a single one of them can close is small. If you are more than 50 points below a cutoff, those two sections cannot structurally get you there.
• ✔327 is the certificate line and 340 is the civil service line - 13 points apart but very different in consequence. If you are preparing for civil service, set 340, not 327, as your target.
• ✔Section scores come from an IRT conversion, so estimating them from practice test accuracy is unreliable. Use the section scores from an actual score report for a correct grade.
• ✔TEPS scores are valid for two years from the release date, and civil service exams count only scores still valid as of the application deadline. Cutoffs and validity rules vary by announcement, so check the specific exam notice.

FAQ