Plan Korean care-worker training and the later refund together
This calculator helps people changing careers compare the training required for their existing credentials and recognized experience with the cash needed before enrollment.
Theory, classroom practice and field placement are separate parts of the Korean care-worker curriculum.
A nursing license and a social-work credential lead to different course structures, so a single average training duration would be misleading.
A subsidized course can still require a substantial payment at enrollment.
Upfront government support, your initial self-payment and a refund claimed after qualifying employment happen at different times.
The calculator separates those amounts instead of treating a future refund as cash already available.
It uses your confirmed provider quote and employment information; it does not generate a provider price or an approval.
The jurisdiction is Korea, the rule year is 2026, and the sources were checked on September 13, 2026.
All monetary amounts are KRW.
Overseas credentials, private caregiver certificates, job guarantees and exam success are outside this tool.
Save the review sheet to discuss course placement and waivers with a designated provider and the refund with an employment center.
Theory, practice and placement by qualification
Article 29-2 and Annex 10-2 of the Elderly Welfare Act Enforcement Rule provide the training schedule below.
A reduced credential-holder course requires the relevant certificate or license to have been issued before training begins.
Do not treat a credential you expect to obtain during training as already qualifying for the reduced course.
Two courses can both total 50 hours while covering different classroom hours.
Social workers take 32 hours of theory and 10 of practice; nursing assistants, physical therapists and occupational therapists take 31 and 11 respectively.
Each has 8 placement hours before an eligible experience waiver.
Until the provider confirms credential issuance and applicability, the selected schedule remains a reference.
Korean care-worker curriculum by credential, in hours, verified in 2026| Pre-course qualification | Theory | Practice | Placement | Total |
|---|
| New entrant | 126 | 114 | 80 | 320 |
| Registered nurse | 26 | 6 | 8 | 40 |
| Social worker | 32 | 10 | 8 | 50 |
| Nursing assistant | 31 | 11 | 8 | 50 |
| Physical therapist | 31 | 11 | 8 | 50 |
| Occupational therapist | 31 | 11 | 8 | 50 |
The one-year and 1,200-hour experience requirement
Long service alone does not establish a waiver.
The provider needs to assess the institution, duties, period, hours and whether you worked in the licensed role where that is required.
Enter recognized months and hours separately, and confirm recognition before an experience reduction is applied.
Twelve months with only 1,199 recognized hours does not meet this calculator’s threshold.
Experience without a listed credential
At least one year and 1,200 hours of recognized caregiving experience can reduce the standard practice and placement hours by half.
Theory remains 126 hours, practice becomes 57, and placement becomes 40, totaling 223 hours.
A separately confirmed waiver for one residential-care or home-care placement setting reduces the total to 203; waivers for both settings reduce it to 183.
Each setting needs its own qualifying experience confirmation.
Combining unrelated service periods does not automatically establish both waivers.
Placement waiver for credential holders
A nurse, social worker, nursing assistant, physical therapist or occupational therapist may have all placement waived after at least one year and 1,200 hours of recognized work in that credentialed role at an eligible residential, home-care or long-term-care institution.
Removing the 8 placement hours leaves 32 hours for nurses and 42 for the other credential courses.
Ordinary hospital employment alone does not establish this waiver.
Do not stack the credential curriculum with the general half-practice reduction.
Minimum study weeks are different from a completion date
Minimum study weeks are total curriculum hours divided by available weekly study hours, rounded up.
A new entrant taking the 320-hour curriculum at 20 hours per week needs at least 16 study weeks.
A nurse’s 40-hour course needs at least 2 on the same assumption.
These figures measure learning capacity, not the provider’s next opening date or your actual graduation date.
Field placement follows completion of theory and practice.
Even an evening-class student may need daytime leave for placement.
Ask the provider about class days, available placement blocks, holiday closures, absence make-up and assessment dates.
Enter the actual or proposed training end supplied by the institution; the calculator does not derive that date from the minimum week count.
The requirement to attend at least 80% of each component and satisfy placement assessment is a separate completion rule.
The tool does not multiply curriculum hours by 0.8 to shorten the study plan.
Completing training also differs from passing the qualification examination and receiving the certificate, so minimum study weeks do not identify the first date you can work.
Minimum study weeks = ceil(total curriculum hours / available weekly study hours)
Separate the provider quote into four amounts
For a card course, tuition means the government-approved training fee. Nonrefundable provider surcharges belong under extras. For a private course, enter the full tuition charge.
Upfront support is the amount confirmed by Work24 or the provider.
Card-cap excess is the part of your self-payment excluded from refund because the account limit is insufficient.
Enter books, examination charges, transport and other separately budgeted expenses under extras.
Avoid counting a fee again if it is already included in tuition.
The refund base is tuition minus upfront support minus card-cap excess.
Upfront cash is tuition minus support plus extras.
Cap excess is already part of the tuition you must pay and must not be added to upfront cash a second time.
The model rejects support plus cap excess exceeding total tuition.
Work24 describes general 90% and special-group 10% self-payment, but government-approved fees, the remaining account balance and additional charges must be checked for the actual course.
The calculator uses your confirmed support amount instead of guessing your support category.
Until you confirm the quote, initial zero entries are not advertised as free training.
Private courses require zero card support and cap excess.
Upfront total = tuition - support + extras / Refund base = tuition - support - card-cap excess
Employment and refund routes
New employment and career changes
Article 46-3(1) of the National Tomorrow Learning Card Rules covers employment during training or within 6 months after it ends.
Someone who remained an insured employee from before training through its end has a one-year job-start window.
Confirm that the care occupation qualifies for the course taken.
The general route requires at least 180 recognized employment days within one year of employment and an application within that same year.
Scheduled hours and the up-to-50% route
An employee with employment-insurance coverage can use the full-refund route at 60 scheduled hours per month or 15 per week.
Below that threshold, at least 20 monthly or 5 weekly allows up to 50% of eligible self-paid tuition.
Use contractual scheduled hours, not extra shifts or a guessed conversion between monthly and weekly hours.
Because the rule says up to 50%, the displayed amount is a ceiling rather than a guaranteed award.
New businesses and existing care workers
A new qualifying care business needs actual new activity, as well as the appropriate registration or registration change.
Dormant activity is not qualifying merely because a registration exists.
Article 46-3(2) provides a separate route for someone insured in a qualifying care occupation throughout the course.
That route requires completion and an application within one year after completion; the calculator does not add a new 180-day or 60-monthly-hour condition.
Keep the job-start, 180-day and application dates separate
For training ending on 2026-03-06, the general job-start reference date is 2026-09-06.
If employment starts on 2026-03-10, the application reference date is 2027-03-10 and the uninterrupted 180-day reference is 2026-09-05, counting the employment start as day one.
The six-month window concerns starting employment; it is not an automatic refund-payment date.
The relevant total is recognized employment-period days within the first year after employment.
This is different from shifts actually worked.
For job changes, leave, insurance-status changes or overlapping jobs, enter a total confirmed by the employment center.
Do not assume that the difference between two dates proves the required employment.
The continuous 180-day date is only a no-gap comparison.
Month and year calculations use the corresponding calendar date, adjusted to month-end where necessary.
They are basic reference dates, not a final legal determination of holidays, initial-day counting, filing methods or individual exceptions.
Prepare before the displayed date and confirm the final filing deadline with the center.
Training before 2026 needs historical-rule review, and future dates describe a plan rather than current entitlement.
Use the calculator step by step
- Select the credential already issued to you, then have the provider confirm that issuance preceded enrollment.
Use employment records and hour statements to enter recognized experience.
- Confirm any additional placement waiver.
For waivers covering both placement settings, check recognition separately for each setting rather than assuming total experience is sufficient.
- Enter the hours available each week and compare the minimum study period with your work and family schedule.
Check the actual placement timetable.
- Split the fee statement into tuition, support, cap excess and extras, then confirm the quote.
Do not enter an included book charge again under extras.
- Choose general employment, previously insured employment or continuous care employment.
Enter actual or planned dates and confirm insurance, occupation, scheduled hours and recognized employment days.
- Compare the current application checks with the conditional refund ceiling.
Save the training and refund plan, then ask the provider about waivers and scheduling and the employment center about filing and evidence.
Worked examples with fictional quotes
These amounts are fictional examples, not market averages or recommended provider prices.
Use your own quote for enrollment decisions.
The example button loads the standard 320-hour course at 20 hours per week, an insured employee scheduled for 60 monthly hours, and 180 recognized employment days.
Full-refund route
Tuition of KRW 1,000,000, support of KRW 100,000, zero cap excess and KRW 100,000 of extras require KRW 1,000,000 upfront.
The eligible refund base is KRW 900,000.
After all conditions and review are satisfied, a full refund would leave KRW 100,000 of net cost.
The initial payment is not just that final net amount.
Part-time route
For the same quote, an insured employee scheduled for 20 monthly and 5 weekly hours has a refund ceiling of KRW 450,000 and a net cost of KRW 550,000 if that ceiling is awarded.
This differs from the 60-monthly-hour or 15-weekly-hour route.
A lower approved refund leaves a higher net cost.
Insufficient card balance
If KRW 100,000 of the same self-payment is card-cap excess, upfront cash remains KRW 1,000,000.
The eligible refund base falls to KRW 800,000 and a full-refund scenario leaves KRW 200,000.
Do not add cap excess twice or return it to the eligible refund base.
Practical comparisons and common mistakes
Comparing two training providers
Similar tuition quotes can hide different reduced-course opening dates, placement availability, extras and support.
Keep the same credential and experience assumptions, enter each quote and save separate plans.
Lower total cost does not necessarily mean earlier completion, so compare actual timetables as well as costs.
Qualifying to care for a family member
Planning to provide family care after obtaining the credential does not automatically establish employment-insurance status or tuition-refund eligibility.
Ask about the actual employment contract, insured status, scheduled hours and recognized occupation.
After qualification, use the separate family-caregiver pay and household care-cost calculator for wage and care-budget comparisons.
Studying while keeping your current job
Being employed is not enough to choose the existing care-worker route.
Continuous insured work in the qualifying care occupation throughout training differs from keeping another job before moving into care.
If you leave or change jobs during the course, do not retain the whole-course confirmation without checking which route applies.
Frequently asked questions
Do nurses and social workers take the same course?
No.
Nurses take 26 theory, 6 practice and 8 placement hours, totaling 40.
Social workers take 32, 10 and 8, totaling 50.
The credential must be issued before training, and the provider must confirm the reduced course.
Does one year of experience remove all placement?
No.
Recognition also depends on 1,200 hours, the institution and duties, and the credentialed role where required.
General experience reductions and setting-specific placement waivers are separate.
A credential holder’s 8-hour waiver needs the relevant qualifying facility experience.
Can I plan only 80% of the curriculum?
The calculator plans the full scheduled curriculum.
Attendance, assessment, make-up and completion are determined by the provider, so hours are not reduced to 80%.
Will tuition be refunded immediately after getting a job?
The general route also checks the qualifying occupation, insurance or genuine business start, hours, 180 recognized days within one year and timely application.
Continuous insured care workers use a separate completion route.
Neither is an automatic payment.
Must both 15 weekly and 60 monthly hours be satisfied?
The rule includes 60 monthly hours or 15 weekly hours.
Below the full threshold, the part-time route uses 20 monthly or 5 weekly hours.
Use contractual scheduled hours and also confirm employment-insurance coverage.
Are books and card-cap excess refundable?
This model excludes cap-excess self-payment and separately entered books, exams and transport from the refund.
If books are included in tuition, do not count them again as extras.
Confirm the actual course statement.
Must all 180 days be with the same employer?
The current article refers to at least 180 recognized employment days within one year after employment.
Combining job periods or dealing with overlaps needs employment-center confirmation.
Enter that recognized total, not a count of shifts worked.
Does meeting the entered conditions guarantee payment?
No.
The result reflects the facts and confirmations entered.
Evidence review, the approved amount and final filing deadline remain with the responsible institution.
The training-hours result also does not guarantee exam success or certificate issuance.
Official sources, rule dates and the next action
On September 13, 2026, the National Law Information OPEN API was used to verify Elderly Welfare Act ID 001777, MST 259093, Article 39-2, and Enforcement Rule ID 006940, MST 282119, Article 29-2 and Annex 10-2, annex serial 18176971.
The Act is effective January 24, 2026; the current Enforcement Rule is effective December 29, 2025.
The annex itself was amended July 17, 2023.
The refund model uses Articles 46 and 46-3 of the National Tomorrow Learning Card Rules, serial 2100000279150, Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice No.
2026-39, effective May 11, 2026.
Work24’s overview was last updated April 28, 2026.
Recheck annual training guidance, program amendments, recognized institutions, counted employment days, account support and deadlines before enrollment or application.
Build your own training and refund plan
Save the plan and gather your credential, employment certificate, fee statement and employment contract.
Ask the designated provider about required hours and placement, and the employment center about your refund route, deadline, evidence and remaining card balance.
Return to the calculator