About TEPS

TEPS (Test of English Proficiency developed by Seoul National University) is an English proficiency test developed by the Language Education Institute at Seoul National University based on years of research and more than 50 years’ experience in assessing language proficiency.

The first TEPS was administered in January 1999, and a revised version of the test was introduced in May 2018, as the 248th TEPS.

TEPS was designed to overcome the limitations of existing English proficiency tests, where students can attain high scores through memorization skills and simple tricks. TEPS aims instead to accurately measure the English proficiency of test takers who use English as a foreign language and to have a more positive influence on the way students study English.

TEPS takes into account the types of errors that English learners often tend to make, reflects international trends in English education and evaluation, and assesses the English skills required of competitive global citizens.

As TEPS has been widely recognized as a useful and reliable tool in evaluating practical English skills, it is used for the hiring of public officials, for national certification exams, and to help determine eligibility for admission or graduation at undergraduate and graduate schools. In addition, institutions such as public organizations and private companies have introduced TEPS into their process of employee recruitment and evaluation.

Evaluates practical English skills

TEPS covers a wide range of topics and situations that we encounter in our daily lives. The test includes English that is used not only in casual conversation but also in business and academic contexts. This allows for a comprehensive evaluation of test takers' English across a range of practical situations. Because the test is designed in this way, those with high TEPS scores are regarded as having superior real-life English skills.

Boasts exceptional discrimination capability

TEPS covers items of various difficulties ranging from easy to very difficult, so it can effectively discriminate test takers’ English proficiency across a wide spectrum. TEPS also contains various types of passages and items, which helps accurately measure the English skills of test takers.

Efficient and test-taker friendly

TEPS aims to minimize the psychological burden on test takers by evaluating their English proficiency efficiently, testing a reasonable number of items in a relatively short period of time. Additionally, the Reading Comprehension section includes test-taker friendly passages that reflect real-life English usage, such as e-mails, news reports, and mobile messenger exchanges.

Encourages good English study habits

In order to prepare for TEPS, you must consistently train yourself by reading and listening to various types of texts and speeches, rather than trying to pick up special tricks or techniques. Also, TEPS is divided into four different sections, and each section is further divided into sub-skills, allowing TEPS to provide test takers with detailed evaluation results for each sub-skill. Consequently, test takers can see their strengths and weaknesses and use this information to establish their future study goals.