Guide to the Demonstration of English Proficiency

1. Purpose
The International Nuclear Safety Master’s Degree Program will be conducted fully in
English. Thus, every student in the program is required to have the English capability to
understand the content of the lectures and to be able to discuss the course materials with
professors and other students. As announced in the “Programme Announcement for
2009 Fall”, an applicant from non-English speaking country must submit a result of one
of the official English proficiency tests with the minimum scores, taken less than 2
years before the application due date, indicated in the following table.

Table 1. Minimum Scores for English Proficiency Test

TOEFL TOEFL TOEFL
TOEIC TEPS IELTS
IBT PBT CBT
83 560 220 720 599 6.5

In case English test score is not available, other equivalent demonstration has to be
provided. This guide is intended to give information on “other equivalent
demonstration”.

2. Applicability and the Order of Consideration

This guide is only applied to the “KINS-KAIST International Nuclear Safety Master’s
Degree Program”. Note that applicants who submit an official English proficiency test
score have priority in the selection. Applicants who fail to submit an official test score
will be considered only when the admitted applicants don’t reach the allowed number of
students for the year.

3. Proposal and Evaluation

An applicant who has no official test score available can propose his/her demonstration
to verify his/her English capability. The proposal will be evaluated in terms of the
‘equivalence’.

4. Demonstrations
The followings are considered as possibly acceptable proposals of demonstrating
English proficiency. However, it must be noted that the followings don’t guarantee the
success of passing screening and admission.

- Proof that the applicant worked more than 2 years in an international

organization(s)
- Certificate that the applicant attended a English speaking college for more than
2 years and that all lectures were given in English
- Proof that the applicant lived more than 3 years in a English-speaking country
- Any official English proficiency test score, although it is lower than the
minimum scores indicated in the Table 1, accompanied by a plan to improve
English capability before the starting date of the MS program
- Any official English proficiency test score, although more than 2 years have
passed since the test, accompanied by an explanatory note of how the
applicant’s English capability has been maintained or improved
- Other English test score certified by national public authority: In case this is
proposed, detailed information about the test has to be provided including
comparison with the official test.

5. Submission
The proposal has to be legibly written or typewritten in English and submitted in
accordance with the instructions of the Programme Announcement. No special form is
given but the proposal has to be preceded by a cover sheet(s) including:
- Applicant’s name
- Reason why the alternative way is adopted to verify the English capability
- Explanation on the ‘equivalence’ of the proposal. Evaluation will be made
mainly based on this explanation; therefore, it should be described in detail as
much as possible.

For further information or questions, please contact:

- Program Coordinator of KINS, Dr. Young-Joon CHOI
u E-mail: k149cyj@kins.re.kr
u Telephone: +82-42-868-0139
u Facsimile: +82-42-861-4046
- Program Assistant of KINS, Dr. Young-Sung CHOI
u E-mail: cys@kins.re.kr
u Telephone: +82-42-868-0574