KGY Tips

What is the Transition Year, the model of the free semester education pledge?

Back to List

The ‘Free Semester’, which is the core of the Korean President’s education pledge,
is a benchmark of Ireland’s ‘Transition Year’!
The ‘Free Semester’ promoted by the Park Geun-hye government is modeled after Ireland’s Transition Year. First, to explain the Transition Year simply, it is a period equivalent to the first year of Irish high school, a time to find out what your aptitude is and think about it through choosing classes that fit your aptitude and experiencing job sites, rather than exam-centered classes. In addition to required subjects, you can take various elective subjects, which has the advantage of allowing you to explore subjects to choose when you graduate.

In 1974, ‘Ireland’s severely overheated educational competition was emerging as a social problem. The Irish government introduced the ‘Transition Year’ to solve this problem.

Let’s take a closer look at an Irish school as an example!

This is TRINITY COMPREHENSIVE SCHOO BALLYMUN.
This school is located in Dublin, a beautiful city that is the setting for the movie ‘Once’, which became very famous in Korea with the song ‘Falling Slowly’.

The Transition Year curriculum provided on the school homepage has the following introduction.

“Transition Year helps students take responsibility for their own learning, make their own decisions, and solve their own problems.

Transition Year is a one-year training program that includes traditional theory and practical classes as well as career guidance and work experience. Transition Year provides young people with the opportunity to mature while at school, ultimately building their confidence and acquiring the knowledge, skills, and techniques they need to achieve their life goals.

Transition Year also provides a one-year personal adventure that helps students learn about themselves, what they are good at, their abilities, and their attitudes toward society and others.”

In addition, the school introduction page introduces the person in charge of each grade.

introduces the person in charge of each grade.

In Korea, you can see that “T.Y.” (Transition Year) is clearly written as . Education Commitment. In addition, this school introduces the implementation and positive effects of the Transition Year System as follows:

"Recent research by the Department for Education has shown that students who take part in a Transition Year achieve between 20 and 40 points higher in their final exams than those who do not.
The Transition Year also allows schools to assign students to the subjects that best suit them when they reach their final year, as teachers assess each student four times a year.
Mathematics, Irish and English are core subjects included in the Transition Year. Teachers cover parts of the final year’s curriculum within these classes.


Some of the newer types of classes are a special part of the Transition Year, including food service, photography and videography, first aid, drama/media, health/therapy and sociology. These classes include guest lectures and field trips. It is very important that students participate in all activities and field trips as part of their studies.
The Work Experience is usually a two-week course in May. It is part of the It is an important part and is also very important in the evaluation. At the end of the year, the school itself issues certificates, and they are divided into three grades (pass, good, excellent) based on the students' participation and achievement."