550,000 to Take CSAT This Year... 320,000 Choose Social Studies, Only 2 Out of 10 Opt for Science

KICE Announces 2026 CSAT Application Results
Record Number of GED Holders in 31 Years
Top-Tier Social Studies Scores Expected to Rise by 16,880
Harder to Achieve High Grades in Science Subjects

This year, 550,000 students will take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), an increase of about 30,000 compared to last year. This appears to be due to a significant rise in the number of third-year high school students born in 2007, the Year of the Golden Pig.

Above all, this year's CSAT is marked by an intensification of the so-called "Satamrun" phenomenon, where students in the natural sciences track opt for social studies subjects. Over 60% of test-takers have chosen social studies. As a result, competition to reach the top ranks in the science track, which has fewer test-takers, is expected to become even fiercer.

On the 3rd, at Geumcheon High School in Geumcheon District, Seoul, where the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test mock exam was held, third-year high school students are preparing for the exam. Photo by Dongju Yoon

According to the application results for the 2026 CSAT released by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation on September 8, the total number of CSAT applicants is 554,174, which is 31,504 more than last year’s 522,670.

The number of current students, which stood at 340,777 last year, increased by 9.1% (31,120) to 371,897 this year. The number of repeat test-takers remained similar to last year’s record high of 161,784.

Among this year’s CSAT applicants, 159,922 are graduates. Although the quota for medical schools has been frozen at pre-expansion levels, the continued influx of applicants appears to be driven by demand to take the integrated CSAT before it ends with the 2027 academic year. A notable trend among the examinees is the increase in "GED test-takers." Their number rose by 11% (2,246) from 20,109 last year to 22,355 this year-the highest in 31 years. This is believed to be related to the increase in students who have dropped out of school.

In particular, this year’s CSAT saw a sharp increase in social studies test-takers and a decrease in science test-takers due to the Satamrun phenomenon. The number of social studies examinees reached 324,405 (61.0%), up by 62,897 from 261,508 last year. In contrast, the number of science examinees dropped by 70,342 to 120,692 (22.7%) from 191,034 last year.

The number of students taking the "social studies + science" combination (one social studies subject and one science subject) was 86,854, up by 34,659 from 52,195 last year. This suggests that a significant number of natural sciences students have switched to the "social studies + science" combination. Among the social studies subjects, "Society and Culture" attracted the most applicants, followed by "Life and Ethics." In the science track, the number of examinees decreased in all subjects except for Life Science II.

Jongro Academy predicted that, due to the Satamrun phenomenon, the number of students able to achieve a grade of 2 or higher in the nine social studies subjects will increase by 16,880 compared to last year. On the other hand, the number of students achieving this in the science track will decrease by 12,316. Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, stated, "A large number of students who chose social studies subjects will meet the 'minimum CSAT grade' requirements for early admissions, which could lead to grade inflation. As a result, school GPA will become a more important differentiator." He added, "In contrast, many students in the science track are expected to fail to meet the minimum CSAT requirements, and natural sciences students who take Science II subjects could be the biggest victims of the Satamrun phenomenon."

This Satamrun phenomenon is expected to become even more pronounced in the 2027 CSAT. Lim remarked, "The Satamrun phenomenon this year is so serious that it should be recognized as a major issue for admissions stability," adding, "It will be even more severe next year, which is the final year of the integrated CSAT in 2027."