South Korea’s new ban on entrance and placement tests for young children will remove one tool that English academies use to sort applicants by ability, while leaving them to manage the wide differences in English proficiency that remain after students enroll.

The amendment to the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Private Teaching Institutes and Extracurricular Lessons takes effect on Oct. 1 and bars private academies from testing or evaluating young children for recruitment or ability-based placement.

The law covers 유아, a legally defined category encompassing children from age 3 until they enter elementary school.

The change targets