Students with 'Hakpok Records' May Face Point Deductions and Disqualification Starting from the 2026 College Admissions Year

Exclusion and Differential Application of Eligibility
Must Be Announced by Each University by April Next Year

The Korea Council for University Education has decided to make the reflection of school violence measures mandatory starting from the 2026 academic year university admission process. Each university must autonomously determine and announce the method and criteria for reflection.

On the 30th, the Council announced the 'Basic Matters for the 2026 University Admission Process.' The Council's University Admission Committee mandated that school violence measures be compulsorily reflected in student records (curriculum/comprehensive), CSAT, essay, and practical/performance-based admissions, allowing universities to autonomously set the reflection methods in accordance with the 'Comprehensive Measures to Eradicate School Violence.'

This decision follows the government's announcement in April of the 'Comprehensive Measures to Eradicate School Violence,' which requires mandatory reflection of school violence measures starting from the 2026 university admissions.

According to the 'Guideline FAQ on Reflecting School Violence Measures in University Admissions' distributed by the Ministry of Education and the Council, universities are allowed to autonomously decide the specific methods and criteria for reflecting school violence in admissions, and may exclude applicants based on the characteristics of each admission type.

On the 20th, students and parents are visiting booths at the '2023 Academic Year Early Admission University Information Fair' held by the Korea Council for University Education at COEX Hall A in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. This fair, held for the first time in three years due to the impact of COVID-19, will continue until the 23rd. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Universities also have discretion to decide the final cutoff date for reflecting records in the student transcript. However, even if incidents occur after the final cutoff date, if the matter is serious or deemed necessary to be reflected in admissions, it can be reviewed and decided upon by each university’s Admission Management Committee.

If there are entries related to school violence in the student life record for each admission type, universities may restrict eligibility for the admission or quantitatively reflect it in evaluation by establishing differentiated scoring criteria based on the type of measures taken.

Each university must announce its university admission implementation plan, established considering the characteristics of its recruitment units, on its website by the end of April next year.

The application period for early admissions for the 2026 academic year is from September 8 to 12, 2025. The admission period is from September 13 to December 11, 2025. The application period for regular admissions is from December 29 to 31, 2025, and the admission period is from January 5 to 28, 2026.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.