The formal school system in Korea follows a 6-3-3-4 ladder pattern which consists of elementary school (1st to 6th grades), middle school (7th to 9th grades), high school (10th to 12th grades) and junior college, college and university.

:: Preschool Education

Preschool education is not included in the formal school system. Kindergarten is the main facility for preschool education in Korea.

Kindergarten education aims at providing an appropriate environment for the nurturing and development of children through various pleasant activities and diverse methods of instruction. The curricula consist of five life areas: physical, social, expression, language and inquiry life areas.

:: Elementary Education

Elementary education is for the children aged 6 to 11 and it is free. The majority of elementary school teachers are graduates of four-year colleges of education.

The goal of elementary school education is to teach the fundamentals necessary for a productive civic life. In order to fulfill this objective, the basic curricula for elementary school education are divided into nine principal subjects: moral education, Korean language, social studies, arithmetic, natural science, physical education, music, fine arts and the practical arts. However, subject matters in grade 1 and 2 are integrated in "disciplined life," "intelligent life" and "pleasant life."

:: Secondary Education

Secondary education is divided into middle school and high school levels.

:: Middle School

Upon completing elementary school, children between the ages of 12 and 14 are allowed to enter middle school for the 7th to 9th grade courses. All elementary school graduates enter middle schools located in their respective school districts through lottery assignments administered on a zone-by-zone basis.

The middle school curricula are composed of 11 basic or required subjects, elective subjects and extra curricula activities. Technical and vocational courses are included in the elective subjects to ensure the productive relationship between education and occupation.

:: High School

High school education aims at providing advanced general and specific education on the basis of middle school education. The period of study is three years and students bear the expenses of the education.

There are several ways of selecting students for admission. Some areas select students according to the school activities records alone or only test scores. Others select students according to both school activities records and tests scores.

High schools are generally divided into two categories, general and vocational. Air & correspondence high schools are included in the former, while agricultural, commercial, fishery and technical high schools are included in the latter. There are a limited number of schools of the so-called "comprehensive" type which offer both general and vocational training. There are also other speciality high schools, such as the high schools for science, foreign language, art, and athlets.

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