GKS Success Rate and Competition
Somewhere between 5% and 13% of applicants get in, depending on the track and your country. But here is the thing: the people who get selected are not always the ones with the best grades.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
2 min read
Updated Oct 5, 2026
The numbers
NIIED publishes quotas, not applicant numbers, so acceptance rates are estimates. The 2026 graduate round offered 800 embassy-track and 1,200 university-track places; the 2027 undergraduate round offers 156 embassy-track and 130 university-track places.
"There was no significant difference between accepted and rejected profiles. The personal statement was the decisive factor."
This finding from GKS research tells you everything: after meeting the 80% GPA minimum, your essays matter far more than whether you had 85% or 95%.
Competition by region
Quotas don't follow demand: in the 2026 graduate embassy track, Vietnam and Indonesia had 33 places each, India 26 and the Philippines 19, while many countries had 1–4.
Bonus points system
| Bonus | Who gets it | Worth |
|---|---|---|
| TOPIK certificate | Graduate: Level 3 or higher. Undergraduate: Level 3 = 3%, Level 4 = 4%, Level 5+ = 5%. | Up to 10% (graduate) |
| Korean War veterans' descendants | Direct descendants of veterans from allied foreign forces | 10% |
| STEM fields | Applicants to science and engineering departments | 5% |
Separately, any official TOPIK, TOEFL or IELTS score is converted into the language part of your evaluation — even TOPIK Level 1 earns 60% of the language points, against 50% with no score at all. Overseas Koreans and applicants from low-income backgrounds also get preference in the overall assessment.
How to improve your odds
Write outstanding essays. Take TOPIK — even Level 1 helps, and Level 3 unlocks the bonus. Apply for STEM programmes. Choose the right track for your profile, and don't list three only highly competitive universities.