The gwageo (Korean: 과거; Hanja: 科擧) or kwagŏ were the national civil service examinations under the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea.

Typically quite demanding, these tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge of the Chinese classics.

Based on the civil service examinations of imperial China, the gwageo first arose in Unified Silla, gained importance in Goryeo, and were the centerpiece of most education in the Joseon dynasty.

The tutelage provided at the hyanggyo, seowon, and Sungkyunkwan was aimed primarily at preparing students for the gwageo and their subsequent career in government service.

Under Joseon law, high office was closed to those who were not children of officials of the second full rank or higher, unless the candidate had passed the gwageo.

[2] However, due to Silla's entrenched bone rank system, which dictated that appointments be made on the basis of birth, these examinations did not have a strong effect on the government.

[3] The examination system was spread to Goryeo in 957 by a visiting Hanlin scholar named Shuang Ji from Later Zhou.

[4] The examinations were established in 958, during the reign of Gwangjong as a means of breaking the hold which a few powerful families held over the government.

In fact, any member of the yangin freeborn class was permitted to take the examination, although the descendants of monks, criminals and cheonmin were excluded.

[12] In theory, anyone other than nobi could take gwageo examinations, but in reality only yangban who had the luxury of spending much of their childhood and early adulthood studying could hope to pass the exam.

In the case of literary administration, children of remarried women, concubines, and officials who were dismissed for corruption were excluded from taking the exam.

The miscellaneous examinations were looked down upon by the yangban, and were generally restricted to the chungin class of hereditary technical workers.

Criteria for the military examination varied, but over time it became open even to members of the lowest class (the cheonmin).

The candidate who received the highest score (jangwon) in the literary examination was given a post of the 6th junior (jong) rank.

In particular, the question of whether the first phase of the higher examination should be oral or written became a hot topic of debate in early Joseon.

[notes 2] The higher literary examination was administered every three years, and a total of 33 successful candidates were selected from a pool of 240.

The story of Yi Sunshin failing the Mugwa the first time due to falling off his horse during this phase, at which point he applied a hasty tourniquet using willow branches, and finishing his mounted archery portion is well known.

The miscellaneous examinations, or japgwa, were divided into four parts: translation, medicine, natural science (astrology, geography, and others), and recordkeeping.

In the case of translation, the languages tested were the four in which the Joseon court maintained interpreters: contemporary Chinese, Mongolian, Jurchen/Manchu, and Japanese.

Scholars who were unable to pass the examination began to form a class of disaffected yangban; notable among these was early 19th-century rebel leader Hong Gyeong-nae.