The Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (2015) mandates that from 2016 all middle schools in Korea must administer one semester as a free semester (FS), called an exam-free semester or, alternatively, a free learning semester. Consequently, some Korean parents and students have expressed a feeling of anxiety about having no exams during the FS. This anxiety arises primarily from their concern about academic loss and neglect of study in the absence of exams, with ensuing lower achievement in future tests. There are many studies showing a positive effect of the FS on learning, but little is known about its practical effect on student achievement. Thus, this study explored if the FS affects students’ achievement by estimating the average population treatment effect of the FS policy on academic achievement in Seoul schools. Based on the inverse probability of treatment weight (IPTW) approach with existing empirical data, the study found that, overall, no substantial differences were noticed in the academic achievement between the pilot FS schools and the non-FS schools. The findings provide empirical evidence for the effect of the FS on academic achievement, as well as critical information for policy makers.

《中小学法实施法令》（2015年）规定，从2016年起，韩国所有中学必须将一个学期作为免费学期（FS）进行管理，称为免考试学期或免费学习学期。因此，一些韩国的父母和学生对不参加考试期间的考试感到焦虑。这种焦虑主要是由于他们担心学术损失和在没有考试的情况下忽视学习而导致将来的考试成绩降低。有许多研究表明FS对学习有积极作用，但对它对学生成绩的实际影响知之甚少。因此，本研究通过估算FS政策对首尔学校学业成绩的平均人口待遇效果，探讨了FS是否影响学生的成绩。根据现有的经验数据得出的治疗权重的逆概率（IPTW）方法，研究发现，总体而言，试验性FS学校与非FS学校之间在学业成绩上没有发现实质性差异。研究结果为FS对学术成就的影响提供了经验证据，并为决策者提供了重要信息。