Prohibition of Duplicate Applications to Gifted Schools in 2022 Academic Year...Significant Reduction in Written Test Ratio

Application Period Reduced by About One Month

Increased Proportion of Questions with High Answer Openness

Expansion of Regional Talent Screening Expected

Provided by the Ministry of Education

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] From the 2022 academic year admissions, duplicate applications between gifted schools will be prohibited. The selection period will also be shortened, and the selection of regional talents will be expanded.

The Ministry of Education announced on the 17th an improvement plan for the admissions process of gifted schools and science high schools that includes these measures. This plan is a follow-up to the measures announced last November to resolve high school hierarchy and strengthen the educational capacity of general high schools.

Previously, duplicate applications were allowed in the first stage, so the actual evaluation was effectively conducted from the second stage. Based on the 2021 academic year admissions, more than 40% of first-stage successful candidates were admitted to multiple schools. From now on, duplicate applications between gifted schools will not be allowed.

The selection period will also be shortened. For gifted schools, it will be adjusted from the existing March to August period to June to August, and for science high schools, from August to November to September to November. The Ministry of Education explained that this is to support students' normal middle school life.

The second and third stage evaluations, conducted after the first-stage document screening, will focus on creativity, problem-solving ability, and comprehensive thinking, with improved questions. Specifically, the proportion of open-ended questions with high answer openness will be increased, and through adjusting the ratio and number of descriptive questions, the problem-solving process will become more important. The influence of relatively paper-based tests will be reduced. For example, in the current system, the average proportion of multiple-choice and short-answer questions in mathematics across eight gifted schools is 80.9%, but this must be lowered to within 30% of the evaluation score criteria.

On March 31, 2019, many parents attended the 'Special High School and College Admission Briefing for Gifted Schools, Science High Schools, Autonomous Private High Schools, Foreign Language High Schools, International High Schools, and General High Schools' held at Hoedang Memorial Hall, Jinseon Girls' High School, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, creating a great turnout. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

In the third-stage evaluation, a comprehensive assessment will be conducted to evenly evaluate applicants' giftedness, character, collaboration skills, and leadership. For science high schools, the second-stage interview evaluation will be revamped from focusing on math and science subject competencies to questions that assess creativity, comprehensive thinking, and collaborative attitudes.

The Ministry of Education plans to expand the regional talent selection process, which prioritizes outstanding students from regions designated by the school, such as the school's location or areas without gifted schools, among those who pass the second-stage admissions. The scale of operation and selection methods will be decided through consultation between schools and metropolitan/provincial education offices. Additionally, to expand educational opportunities for students under the social integration selection process, target students will be identified from elementary and middle school stages, and related gifted programs will be operated by grade.

The Ministry of Education will operate an impact evaluation system for gifted school admissions in cooperation with metropolitan and provincial education offices. To this end, admissions officers will be assigned to ensure that students' abilities are deeply evaluated during the first-stage document screening. Furthermore, the Ministry plans to ensure that gifted schools and science high schools operate according to their founding purposes by expanding graduates' advancement into science and engineering fields. Related legal amendments will be reflected in the 5th Comprehensive Plan for Gifted Education Promotion. All gifted schools and science high schools will be required to disclose admissions evaluation questions on their school websites so that anyone can easily access and utilize admissions information.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye said, "We will strive to nurture excellent science and engineering talents who can continue to lead the world through gifted schools and science high schools, and since social interest and expectations are high, we will continuously communicate with experts and stakeholders to seek improvements and development plans for the system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.