What the decree now requires

Korea's free semester (자유학기) is a statutory duty, not a voluntary club. Article 44(3) of the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as in force when this page was checked (29 October 2026), requires a middle-school principal — and a special school that teaches a middle-school course — to designate one or two semesters as a free semester. The minister sets details of which terms may be chosen.

Article 48-2 requires student-participation classes and experiential activities for career exploration and related aims during that period, with further detail left to the minister. The Korean source is a reform-critique assignment; use official texts for the live rule, and

How schools have been told to run the period

Ministry of Education material and official policy explainers describe a shift away from lecture-and-memorization toward discussion, projects, and career exploration, and they describe no uniform midterm or final paper exam during the free-semester period, with process-based assessment recorded instead.

A two-semester plan has been discussed in policy as a free year (자유학년제). Do not treat a 2021 school-count from an old briefing as the current national figure. Ask the school which model it is using this year.

How this compares with other systems

Many countries have career-exploration or project blocks in lower secondary school, but few place a statutory duty on every middle school to ring-fence one or two exam-light semesters. U.S. middle schools usually keep ordinary term tests under district rules; career work is often an elective or a counseling program. Japan has integrated studies and career activities under its national curriculum, without this exact decree structure. China's compulsory-education curriculum includes comprehensive practice; local rules differ. Compare official instruments.

Limits

Which grade, how many hours, and how records are written into the school register can change. Readers should check the live decree, the Ministry of Education, the provincial office, and the school plan, not this packet, before they treat a detail as current. This page explains the public system; it is not a school's evaluation and not a ranking of education systems.

Sources

1. Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Article 44(3), as in force: a middle-school principal (and a special school that teaches a middle-school course) must designate one or two semesters as a free semester (자유학기). Details of which semesters may be designated are set by the Minister of Education. Confirm the live decree text (the version checked for this page was the text in force on 29 October 2026).
2. The same Decree, Article 48-2: during a free semester the principal must run student-participation classes and experiential activities for career exploration and related aims; details are set by the Minister of Education.
3. Ministry of Education and official policy pages describe process-based assessment and the absence of a uniform midterm or final paper exam during the free-semester period. School practice can vary; check the live MOE notice and the school's plan.

Last updated: November 13, 2026