Exam Committee Chair: "This Year's CSAT Maintains Discriminatory Power at Usual Level"

Held at 1,383 Exam Centers in 86 Test Districts Nationwide
Separate Testing for Confirmed and Self-Quarantined Examinees

Chairman Min Chan-hong: "We Understand the Difficulties of Current Students"
Seong Gi-seon, President of the Evaluation Institute, Expects Appropriate Difficulty Level

On the 3rd, the day of the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test, examinees are waiting for the exam to start at the testing site set up at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Amid the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was held from 8:40 a.m. on the 3rd at 86 testing districts and 1,383 testing sites nationwide. Due to concerns about academic achievement gaps caused by prolonged remote classes, there was public opinion that the CSAT should be made somewhat easier, but the difficulty level was set to match the usual standard.

Min Chan-hong, the CSAT test committee chairman, explained at a briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex that morning, "We tried to maintain the usual level of discrimination," but also said, "We are well aware that current students have had difficulties in learning. We paid the utmost attention to ensure that the test does not give the impression of being particularly difficult." Regarding this, Sung Ki-sun, president of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, said, "Since no anomalies (such as academic achievement gaps) were found in the June and September mock tests, the difficulty level will not change abruptly," and added, "We expect an appropriate difficulty level."

This year, the number of CSAT applicants was 493,433, the lowest since the CSAT was introduced in 1994. Among them, 346,674 were current high school seniors, 133,069 were graduates, and 13,691 were applicants from the qualification exam. Although the number of test takers decreased, the number of testing sites and rooms increased. Separate testing rooms were prepared for confirmed cases, self-quarantined individuals, and those with symptoms, and the number of students per classroom in general testing rooms was reduced from 28 to 24. The Ministry of Education plans to announce the attendance statistics at 4 p.m. on the same day.

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