<P> High schools in South Korea teach students for three years , from first grade ( age 15 -- 17 ) to third grade ( age 17 -- 19 ) , and students commonly graduate at age 18 or 19 . High school students are commonly expected to study increasingly long hours each year moving toward graduation , to become competitive and be able to enter attractive universities , such as SKY ( Seoul National , Korea , and Yonsei Universities ) or SeoKaPo ( Seoul National University , KAIST , POSTECH ) , which are top universities in Korea that almost all parents and teachers want students to enter . Many high school students wake and leave home in the morning at 5 am . When the school is over at 4 pm , they go to a studying room in the school or to a library to study instead of going home . This is called ' Yaja ' , which literally means ' evening self - study ' . They do n't need to go home to eat dinner since most schools provide paid dinner for students . After finishing yaja ( usually ends at 10 pm , but later than 11 pm at some schools ) , they return home after studying , then return to specialty study schools ( which are called Hagwon ) often till 2 am , from Monday to Friday . In addition , they often study on weekends . </P>
<P> High schools in South Korea teach students for three years , from first grade ( age 15 -- 17 ) to third grade ( age 17 -- 19 ) , and students commonly graduate at age 18 or 19 . High school students are commonly expected to study increasingly long hours each year moving toward graduation , to become competitive and be able to enter attractive universities , such as SKY ( Seoul National , Korea , and Yonsei Universities ) or SeoKaPo ( Seoul National University , KAIST , POSTECH ) , which are top universities in Korea that almost all parents and teachers want students to enter . Many high school students wake and leave home in the morning at 5 am . When the school is over at 4 pm , they go to a studying room in the school or to a library to study instead of going home . This is called ' Yaja ' , which literally means ' evening self - study ' . They do n't need to go home to eat dinner since most schools provide paid dinner for students . After finishing yaja ( usually ends at 10 pm , but later than 11 pm at some schools ) , they return home after studying , then return to specialty study schools ( which are called Hagwon ) often till 2 am , from Monday to Friday . In addition , they often study on weekends . </P>
when do you start high school in korea
when do you start high school in korea
age 15 -- 17
age 15 -- 17