Chinese students increasingly travel to South Korea to take English proficiency exams like IELTS and TOEFL due to a scarcity of testing facilities in China, compounded by the recent lifting of the Hallyu Ban, which has also turned these trips into opportunities for tourism.
Kim, a 27-year-old graduate student, was surprised when he went to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam last month. Half of the 20 people in the examination room appeared to be Chinese and presented red Chinese passports as identification. Before the exam started, about five or six Chinese candidates were passing around notes on English vocabulary and grammar, discussing in Chinese.
Since the lifting of the Hallyu Ban (restrictions on Korean cultural content) in China last August, there has been an increase in Chinese people coming to Korea to take English exams like IELTS or TOEFL.
The British Council, which administers IELTS, noted that they have observed a significant number of Chinese expeditionary candidates coming to Korea recently. Although they do not have statistics sorted by nationality, it is estimated that as many as half of the 30,000 people who take IELTS in Korea annually could be Chinese.
The reason behind the increasing number of Chinese citizens taking the English proficiency exam in South Korea is the lack of testing facilities in China. According to the British Council, the number of IELTS candidates in China rose from 350,000 in 2017 to 500,000 in 2023, but the number of test centers only increased from 89 to 95. In some provinces larger than the Korean Peninsula, there may only be one testing site available.
As a result, some Chinese candidates have been taking overseas exams in Vietnam and Thailand for the past three to four years. With the end of the Hallyu Ban, these candidates have now shifted their focus to Korea.
Li Chang, a 23-year-old senior student at Shandong University, traveled to Seoul in February to take the IELTS. He found that his official English test scores from China were not enough to meet his requirements for studying in the U.S.
Li was unable to take the test because the online application closed early, so a friend suggested he should take the test in South Korea instead. “I looked it up online and saw numerous reviews from Chinese students who had already visited Korea to take their tests,” he said.
According to Li, there are Chinese university students who frequently form study groups and prepare for a month or two before traveling to S. Korea. Additionally, there are educational companies in China offering package programs that combine English lessons with expeditionary testing.
After taking their exams, many Chinese candidates stay in Korea for a few more days to enjoy tourism. Zhang Wei, a 24-year-old university student from Tianjin, visited Korea in early January to take the TOEFL exam.
Zhang arrived on a Friday, took the exam the next day, and spent the remaining two days visiting places like Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong, and Bukchon. “When registering for the test, I debated between testing centers in Gangbuk and Gangnam. I chose the Gangbuk center because it was relatively cheaper for accommodations and had more tourist attractions,” Zhang said.
