When to use the academy withdrawal refund calculator
This calculator applies Korean 2026 rules to voluntary withdrawal from ordinary in-person teaching covered by the Private Teaching Institutes Act.
It helps parents changing a child’s academy and adults leaving a training course compare notice before and after another lesson.
Amounts are in KRW and use payments already made, rather than future invoices or advertised prices.
The key measure is elapsed scheduled teaching time, not simply calendar days or personal attendance.
Missing a scheduled lesson does not necessarily stop the teaching clock.
Keep the timetable and payment receipts beside you, compare two withdrawal points within the same refund month, and save the review for a written refund request.
Three checks before calculating
- Whether the Korean in-person academy refund standard covers the contract
- Whether the contract period is up to one month or longer than one month
- How many scheduled teaching minutes had elapsed when withdrawal was communicated
Covered contracts and separate rules
Within this model
Ordinary in-person teaching at an academy, teaching establishment or private tutor covered by Korean academy law, when the learner voluntarily withdraws.
Short contracts and prepaid multi-month contracts are handled separately.
An institution’s marketing name alone does not establish its legal registration or applicable rules.
Separate review required
Remote teaching, reading rooms, lifelong education facilities, driving schools, provider-caused cancellation and isolation-related withdrawal are outside this model.
Annex 4 treats remote lessons actually taken or stored on a learning device separately.
Selecting another contract type or an uncertain classification withholds the refund estimate.
Separate books, meals, transport, boarding, refunds already received and additional compensation for provider fault are excluded.
Do not apply the tuition fraction automatically to every item or add an assumed penalty.
Request a separate settlement for each extra item, taking its contract and delivery or use into account.
Prepare the payment and timetable inputs
Tuition actually paid
Use the discounted amount actually paid.
For a short contract, enter the fee for that period; for a longer contract, enter the payment allocated to the month in which the refund cause occurs.
If a package discount or partial payment makes that allocation unclear, obtain the academy’s breakdown first.
Total and elapsed minutes
Use minutes consistently: 12 hours = 720 minutes and 3 hours = 180 minutes.
If lessons have different lengths, sum their scheduled duration rather than dividing session counts.
Check the revised timetable for canceled or replacement lessons.
For a long contract, use the current refund month’s total, not all contracted hours.
Notice date and teaching status
The date is recorded in the review; it does not generate teaching hours automatically.
Select whether teaching for the relevant period has started.
Entering zero elapsed minutes while selecting “Started” does not trigger a full pre-start refund.
Future and completed months
List each future month that has not started and the fee already paid for it.
Exclude unpaid invoices and future payments.
Completed-month payments reconcile the total paid but add nothing to this voluntary-withdrawal refund.
Future monthly payments can differ.
Refund bands for a period up to one month
Annex 4 to the Enforcement Decree distinguishes teaching before commencement and elapsed teaching thresholds at 1/3 and 1/2.
The table below separates exact boundaries to explain this calculator’s pending-review behavior.
Use the timetable and notice evidence to establish the position relative to each threshold.
Voluntary in-person tuition withdrawal bands and a KRW 300,000 example| Withdrawal point | Refund fraction | On KRW 300,000 paid |
|---|
| Before teaching starts | Full | KRW 300,000 |
| Started, before 1/3 elapsed | 2/3 | KRW 200,000 |
| Exactly 1/3 | Review | KRW 150,000–200,000 comparison |
| After 1/3, before 1/2 | 1/2 | KRW 150,000 |
| Exactly 1/2 | Review | KRW 0–150,000 comparison |
| After 1/2 | None | KRW 0 |
Why exact 1/3 and 1/2 points remain pending
The Korean annex describes periods before and after a threshold has elapsed.
This calculator does not turn an exactly equal numeric input into a final legal conclusion about the next band.
It shows the two adjacent amounts and leaves the final figure pending.
That comparison range is neither a recommended settlement nor a guaranteed refund range.
If 240 or 360 of 720 minutes have finished and notice is given before the next lesson, record when the lesson ended and when the notice was delivered.
Ask the local education office to review the timetable, notice timing and next teaching start before finalizing the claim.
Displayed threshold minutes may be rounded to two decimals; do not alter actual elapsed minutes to match a rounded display.
The engine compares three times elapsed minutes with total minutes, and twice elapsed minutes with total minutes.
Longer contracts: separate the refund month from future months
Multi-month formula
Total refund = current-month refund under the short-period rule + all paid tuition for the remaining future months
The current month uses its own tuition and teaching-time basis.
Dividing elapsed time by all hours in a three-month package could understate progress in the refund month.
Confirm the payment and hours allocated to that month, then add each future month separately.
Passing halfway through the current month does not automatically eliminate future-month payments from the refund.
The current-month amount may be zero while future months still contribute their full paid amounts.
Completed months must not be entered as future months.
If the contract’s monthly allocation is unclear, request the provider’s basis instead of assuming calendar months or splitting a discounted package equally.
Worked examples: the cost of waiting for another lesson
KRW 300,000 for one month
With 180 of 720 minutes elapsed, progress is below the 240-minute one-third threshold: the estimated refund is KRW 200,000.
At 300 minutes, progress is after one third but before the 360-minute halfway threshold: the refund is KRW 150,000.
Waiting reduces the refund by KRW 50,000.
These are fictional inputs, not typical fees.
Add future months of KRW 250,000 and 350,000
Add KRW 600,000 in future-month payments to both estimates.
The current-point total becomes KRW 800,000 and the later total KRW 750,000.
If completed months cost KRW 400,000, all entered payments total KRW 1,300,000, but those completed months do not increase the KRW 800,000 refund.
The current-period fraction is rounded down to whole won for display.
For example, two thirds of KRW 100 appears as KRW 66.
This is an explicit display assumption, not a claim that the law mandates truncation.
Confirm the actual settlement unit with the academy.
Step-by-step use and interpreting the result
- Check the contract and receipts, then choose coverage and the teaching-period category.
- Enter tuition paid and total teaching minutes for the short period or current refund month.
- For a long contract, separate completed-month payments from future-month payments.
- Enter notice date, teaching-start status and elapsed scheduled minutes.
- Optionally compare a later notice date and elapsed minutes within the same refund month.
- Review any boundary warning, confirm the timetable and notice timing, and save the TXT review.
“Payments outside the refund” is the entered total minus the estimate.
It is not a new penalty or an additional debt.
Mixing unpaid fees, prior refunds or unrelated contracts would also distort that reconciliation.
To evaluate another refund month, rebuild the current-month fee, total time and future-month list, and run a separate calculation.
Prepare a written refund request
- Contract, receipts, discount terms and monthly payment allocation
- Total teaching time, revised timetable and lesson records
- Messages or email showing withdrawal and delivery of the refund request
- A statement separating the band, current-month calculation and future months
Article 18(3) of the Enforcement Decree requires return within five days of the refund cause.
This calculator does not infer notice delivery, first-day treatment or holidays to generate a calendar deadline.
Confirm the cause date and actual payment schedule in writing.
If the amount is disputed, request the band and monthly calculation rather than accepting an unexplained total; take the evidence to the relevant local education office.
Frequently asked questions
Should I deduct lessons I missed?
Personal absence differs from elapsed scheduled teaching.
Do not enter attendance alone if the class took place.
Check cancellation and replacement lessons against the timetable.
Is everything lost after halfway?
Use teaching time for the applicable period.
For a contract longer than one month, paid future months are added separately even after the current month passes halfway.
What if I finish exactly half and notify before the next lesson?
The calculator does not automatically finalize a zero refund.
It shows adjacent-band amounts pending review of the timetable, notice timing and next teaching start.
Does a discounted package revert to the list price?
Enter actual payments and a confirmed monthly allocation.
The validity of discount recovery or list-price recalculation is outside this model; review the contract and requested calculation separately.
Can I include books and transport at the same fraction?
Separately charged items are excluded.
Confirm their applicable refund basis using delivery, use and service records.
Does this work for online lessons or reading rooms?
The same formula should not be applied.
Annex 4 has separate rules for remote teaching and reading rooms; choose the other-contract option to flag review.
Does the notice date calculate elapsed time?
No.
Dates are records, and scheduled minutes must be entered manually.
A notice before or after a lesson on the same date can lead to different results.
Is the displayed refund a final payment entitlement?
It is a review estimate from the inputs and general standard.
Confirm exact boundaries, coverage, monthly allocation, separate charges and fractional-won settlement with the provider and relevant office.
Official sources and rule dates
Current statutes and the annex were checked through Korea’s National Law Information OPEN API on 2026-09-20.
Act Article 18 uses the version effective 2023-10-19 (MST 249991); Decree Article 18 uses the version effective 2026-03-24 (MST 284907).
Annex 4 carries its own amendment date of 2020-03-31 and annex identifier 18013845.
This model follows the voluntary-withdrawal category in item 3 and the note on elapsed teaching time.
Recheck Article 18 and Annex 4 after legal changes or for a different contract classification.
Input caps on money, minutes and future-month rows are interface limits, not statutory limits on tuition or contract length.
Turn the timetable and receipts into a review
Enter current payments and elapsed minutes, then compare the refund after another lesson.
Save the monthly breakdown and request the refund basis and payment schedule in writing.
For the budget after changing academies, continue with the private education cost calculator.
Plan private education spending →