KIIP Korean Immigration Integration Programme (사회통합프로그램)

I took the level test yesterday too. I had the opposite experience with my speaking portion. I was in a group with all other Asian students and each time they came to me they slowed down and even repeated themselves.

One question was about the difference or similarity between the house in your hometown and your house here. I think I was the only one that caught the word 집 cuz everyone else was talking about cultural differences and they all got corrected and I talked about the differences in parking and bathtubs... so I think I won that one.

Then the reading was about shopping for a birthday present at a department store. And when's your birthday? What's a great present you have received and from who? And then... the last few questions had me just staring blankly and apologizing so I dunno.

But I could see the score sheet for the test guy closest to me, and the best speaker (who I think annoyed them with his loooooooooong winded answers) got a 15, and I got an 11. I think. So either they were scoring REALLY hard, or I did alright.

Did anyone else take the test yesterday?

I took the level test last Saturday as well. I'm in Seoul, so there was a pretty big turn out as you might imagine (maybe 700+ test takers). I'll outline my experience below - apologies in advance for the lengthy post!

(Note: A few days before the test, I received a text message from immigration with details and directions to the test venue. It was entirely in Korean, but Bing translator gave a solid enough translation.)


1. Arrive at test venue - there were staff in the main street to point us in the right direction, as well as a red tape path haha. At the building, staff looked at my receipt and told me which testing room I was in (they had organised us by birth year).


2. Go to test room - outside the room was a list with our names and our seat numbers. Inside the room, our seats were labelled with these numbers and ARC details. They did not take registration at this point.


3. Half an hour before the multiple-choice test - invigilators explained the test and asked us to put our bags and mobile phones at the front of the room. I highly recommend watching the video in this link: http://keytokorean.com/resources/kiip/what-to-expect-at-the-kiip-level-test/ which explains how to fill out the OMR card. The invigilators only spoke in Korean, so instructions could easily go over your head. They were pretty kind though, making sure we could understand and reminding us to go to the bathroom

We were told to also put away pencil cases/any stationery we had brought with us, and only use the black pens provided by the staff (we were not given red pens).


4. During the test - invigilators came to us individually to register us/check our ARC and names...a little off-putting, but at least done quickly.

I took a mock TOPIK reading test online (http://www.topikguide.com/complete-topik-practice-test-online/) beforehand, and it was pretty similar to the KIIP level test. Questions focus a lot on grammar, comprehension, extent of vocabulary acquisition (e.g. 'Please choose the answer which is the opposite of the underlined phrase'). Everything on the test paper is in Korean, so it's worth looking at the TOPIK mocks just to see how questions are phrased. The exam paper gets increasingly difficult (I guess, as it goes through the levels), so I was pretty much done after question 30. But! Make sure to read all the questions as the last few on my paper were about Korean culture (rather than testing us on our language) - these could help you score a few extra points.


5. After the test - all exam materials were collected and we were given a document that listed the venues where KIIP classes will be held, as well as dates for the release of class timetables and the class registration period.

We were allowed to take our mobile phones back for a short while before the speaking tests started. I'm pretty sure that they started the 'test conditions' (no mobile phones, one person at a time to go to the bathroom) the moment the very first group went in, even though we were in room 10 and had a ~2 hour wait ahead of us before people in our room would start to go in for our speaking tests  They put a movie on for us to watch in the meantime haha.

The invigilators were really strict about no mobile phones being on your person - whilst waiting to go into the speaking test room, an invigilator completely screwed at someone for having their phone on them (very loudly, all in Korean...I mean, even I was scared).


6. The speaking test - my group had a piece about someone buying a birthday present for their friend. After everyone had read, the examiners asked each person 3-4 questions depending on your ability to answer. In my group, one examiner first asked simpler questions in relation to the text and an unrelated question ('How long have you lived in Korea?'). Then the other examiner asked more difficult questions, unrelated to the text (e.g. 'What kind of house did you live in in your home country?', 'What do you think of the hagwon system in Korea?'). The examiners simplified, repeated or increased the difficulty of their questions accordingly. Overall, they seemed pretty nice! We were done after about 15 minutes.


And that's everything! Sorry it's so wordy We received our results yesterday... I thought I had really screwed up the whole level test, so I was really chuffed to see I've been placed in Level 3. Now for the challenge of registering for a class...

I took the level test last Saturday as well. I'm in Seoul, so there was a pretty big turn out as you might imagine (maybe 700+ test takers). I'll outline my experience below - apologies in advance for the lengthy post!

(Note: A few days before the test, I received a text message from immigration with details and directions to the test venue. It was entirely in Korean, but Bing translator gave a solid enough translation.)


1. Arrive at test venue - there were staff in the main street to point us in the right direction, as well as a red tape path haha. At the building, staff looked at my receipt and told me which testing room I was in (they had organised us by birth year).


2. Go to test room - outside the room was a list with our names and our seat numbers. Inside the room, our seats were labelled with these numbers and ARC details. They did not take registration at this point.


3. Half an hour before the multiple-choice test - invigilators explained the test and asked us to put our bags and mobile phones at the front of the room. I highly recommend watching the video in this link: http://keytokorean.com/resources/kiip/what-to-expect-at-the-kiip-level-test/ which explains how to fill out the OMR card. The invigilators only spoke in Korean, so instructions could easily go over your head. They were pretty kind though, making sure we could understand and reminding us to go to the bathroom

We were told to also put away pencil cases/any stationery we had brought with us, and only use the black pens provided by the staff (we were not given red pens).


4. During the test - invigilators came to us individually to register us/check our ARC and names...a little off-putting, but at least done quickly.

I took a mock TOPIK reading test online (http://www.topikguide.com/complete-topik-practice-test-online/) beforehand, and it was pretty similar to the KIIP level test. Questions focus a lot on grammar, comprehension, extent of vocabulary acquisition (e.g. 'Please choose the answer which is the opposite of the underlined phrase'). Everything on the test paper is in Korean, so it's worth looking at the TOPIK mocks just to see how questions are phrased. The exam paper gets increasingly difficult (I guess, as it goes through the levels), so I was pretty much done after question 30. But! Make sure to read all the questions as the last few on my paper were about Korean culture (rather than testing us on our language) - these could help you score a few extra points.


5. After the test - all exam materials were collected and we were given a document that listed the venues where KIIP classes will be held, as well as dates for the release of class timetables and the class registration period.

We were allowed to take our mobile phones back for a short while before the speaking tests started. I'm pretty sure that they started the 'test conditions' (no mobile phones, one person at a time to go to the bathroom) the moment the very first group went in, even though we were in room 10 and had a ~2 hour wait ahead of us before people in our room would start to go in for our speaking tests  They put a movie on for us to watch in the meantime haha.

The invigilators were really strict about no mobile phones being on your person - whilst waiting to go into the speaking test room, an invigilator completely screwed at someone for having their phone on them (very loudly, all in Korean...I mean, even I was scared).


6. The speaking test - my group had a piece about someone buying a birthday present for their friend. After everyone had read, the examiners asked each person 3-4 questions depending on your ability to answer. In my group, one examiner first asked simpler questions in relation to the text and an unrelated question ('How long have you lived in Korea?'). Then the other examiner asked more difficult questions, unrelated to the text (e.g. 'What kind of house did you live in in your home country?', 'What do you think of the hagwon system in Korea?'). The examiners simplified, repeated or increased the difficulty of their questions accordingly. Overall, they seemed pretty nice! We were done after about 15 minutes.


And that's everything! Sorry it's so wordy We received our results yesterday... I thought I had really screwed up the whole level test, so I was really chuffed to see I've been placed in Level 3. Now for the challenge of registering for a class...

Do you know the date/time that registration starts?  I called and they said they didn't know, that I was  supposed to get a text about it.  But the last time I took the evaluation I never got a text, so by the time I looked at the courses, what I wanted was all filled up.

Are you talking about the level test on November 14th?  The results for the level test are already posted and you can sign up for the classes now (at least for Incheon).

Are you talking about the level test on November 14th?  The results for the level test are already posted and you can sign up for the classes now (at least for Incheon).

I actually took mine in August, but the results are good for six months or something afterward, and I wasn't able to sign up for the classes available right after my test.  I took the test at Sookmyeong Women's Uni.  Nothing has been showing for me yet.

@chocolate.croissant From the document they gave us (for Seoul), it seems that they'll release the class timetables for each venue on December 31st. Registration period for the classes is then meant to be January 20th-22nd :)

this level test everyone is talking about - is this for classes happening next year? because there's no option to sign up for anything - including a level test - on my SOCINET account.

EDIT: just tried to go on the website now, and it's telling me: "social integration program unavailable". what?

anyway, does anyone know when the next pre-test is?

based on the document you can download from waaayback on the notice board about the whole year's schedule, it looks like the 5th placement test for the year (the one just done) is the last one scheduled.

Most years are pretty similar in the session dates, so I would be expecting another placement at the beginning of January, with registration around the end of December/early January. Registration seems to finish around a week or so before the test date (could be wrong about this, as it is just from memory).

based on the document you can download from waaayback on the notice board about the whole year's schedule, it looks like the 5th placement test for the year (the one just done) is the last one scheduled.

Most years are pretty similar in the session dates, so I would be expecting another placement at the beginning of January, with registration around the end of December/early January. Registration seems to finish around a 1 or so before the test date (could be wrong about this, as it is just from memory).

amazing, thanks lauren 

i could do January level test no problem. i actually got a korean friend of mine to call the woman responsible for my district a month or two ago about the next level test. she said she would email me when it was coming up, but of course nothing.

Hi everybody. I took the level test on November 14th with Yangju immigration office and have been allocated to level 3. Any idea when the classes will start or when we will have the option to register for classes? Any of you guys planning to study in Ilsan?

Online classes are already up and full for my level... apparently they were posted on the 21st. Guess I should have been checking every day or something! It would have been nice to finish before break...

Online classes are already up and full for my level... apparently they were posted on the 21st. Guess I should have been checking every day or something! It would have been nice to finish before break...

Are you in level 5 managed by the Seoul immigration office by chance?  I am and I got a string of text messages saying that they'd opened up a bunch of classes (luckily I was already enrolled in one, so they didn't really pertain to me).  I was curious and checked on SociNet a few hours later and they were all full.  My teacher said there were more than 200 people, just in Seoul, waiting for spots in level 5 classes to open up.     

Level 5 in Gangwon-do, ~6 classes posted. I don't even know how I would get a text message (didn't get any for classes before).

I really wish they would open more classes, especially if there's clearly more demand!

Edit: I suppose the online classes may be separately managed by the office in Seoul. If that's the case, well it doesn't seem like I had much of a chance, did I? 

Where on the site can you find a listing for online classes? I looked today but saw nothing and I'm not entirely sure how or where to find them...

Though it seems like they're already all full from what was just said...

Where on the site can you find a listing for online classes? I looked today but saw nothing and I'm not entirely sure how or where to find them...

Though it seems like they're already all full from what was just said...

After signing in, click on "마이페이지" at the top, then select your language. After that you can click on "Apply Class" to search for classes.

I'm Level 3 and nothing is showing up for online/offline classes yet. Even if classes are full for your level, I would keep checking. Sometimes new classes get added.

I'm level three as well. So I guess its just keep checking and checking cuz I'd really like to get into an online class

Is there a way to sign up to be notified when they post classes? They have my phone number and email address.

@chocolate.croissant From the document they gave us (for Seoul), it seems that they'll release the class timetables for each venue on December 31st. Registration period for the classes is then meant to be January 20th-22nd :)

Thanks for the reply!  Does that mean then classes wouldn't start until February?  This is a lot later than the people suggested when I called earlier, but then it seems like nobody in this program is very coordinated.

So annoying as I'm having to stick around at a job I don't like until I can finish this and apply for the visa.  =(

Online classes are already up and full for my level... apparently they were posted on the 21st. Guess I should have been checking every day or something! It would have been nice to finish before break...

Where are you located?

Online classes are already up and full for my level... apparently they were posted on the 21st. Guess I should have been checking every day or something! It would have been nice to finish before break...

Are you in level 5 managed by the Seoul immigration office by chance?  I am and I got a string of text messages saying that they'd opened up a bunch of classes (luckily I was already enrolled in one, so they didn't really pertain to me).  I was curious and checked on SociNet a few hours later and they were all full.  My teacher said there were more than 200 people, just in Seoul, waiting for spots in level 5 classes to open up.   

Was this just level 5 or did they post any other levels?