Difficult CSAT 'Korean' Decides Differentiation... "English 1st Grade Reaches 12.7%" (Comprehensive)

Individual Scores Distributed on the 23rd

Korean Standard Score Perfect Score 7 Points Higher
Better Performance Provides Relative Advantage

Number of Perfect Scorers and Grade 1·2 Students Decreases

The day after the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test, on the 4th, a parent is encouraging their examinee child in front of the essay test site at Soongsil University in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] This year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was found to be more difficult in the Korean language and Mathematics Type A sections compared to last year, while Mathematics Type B and English were easier. Due to the increased difficulty, the standard scores in the Korean language section are higher than those in other subjects, making it a key factor in distinguishing top-tier students. With the highest absentee rate ever recorded, there are also concerns that some students may fail to meet the minimum CSAT grade requirements.

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) announced the scoring results for the 2021 CSAT held on December 3 on the 22nd. This year, there were 421,034 test takers, including 295,116 current students and 125,918 graduates and others (including those who passed the qualification exam). Individual scores will be distributed on the 23rd.

At a briefing, Seong Gi-seon, the head of KICE, stated, "We actively considered the difficulties in normal educational activities due to COVID-19 when setting the questions," adding, "We made efforts to ensure that the questions were within the curriculum scope so that high school education could operate normally."

Looking at the highest standard scores by subject, the Korean language section scored 144 points, Mathematics Type A scored 137 points, and Mathematics Type B scored 137 points. The standard score indicates how much a test taker's raw score deviates from the average score. When the test is difficult and the average is low, the highest standard score rises; conversely, when the test is easy and the average is high, the highest standard score decreases.

For the 2020 academic year, the highest standard scores were 140 points for Korean, 134 points for Mathematics Type A, and 149 points for Mathematics Type B. Compared to last year, this suggests that Korean and Mathematics Type A were more difficult this year, while Mathematics Type B was relatively easier. The cutoff scores for the top grade (Grade 1) by subject are 131 points for Korean, 130 points for Mathematics Type A, and 131 points for Mathematics Type B. This year, there were three perfect scorers among current students and three among graduates.

On the morning of December 3, 2020, students at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul, received exam papers and marked their answer sheets at the test site for the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test.

Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), this year's exam was postponed by two weeks and was taken simultaneously at 1,383 test centers across 86 test districts nationwide, with a record low of 493,433 examinees. 2020.12.3/News1

In the English section, which is graded on an absolute scale, the percentage of Grade 1 scorers was 12.66%. This is the highest since the introduction of absolute grading, significantly increasing from last year's 7.43%. Ban Jae-cheon, the head of the scoring committee, said, "The difficulty of the high-level questions anticipated by the question review team turned out to be slightly easier than expected."

◆Will there be many cases of failing to meet the minimum CSAT grade requirements?= With the overall decrease in test takers and an increase in absentee rates, there is a possibility that students admitted through early admissions may fail to meet the minimum academic standards. Compared to the previous year, the number of perfect scorers and those in Grades 1 and 2 in the Korean language section decreased. For Mathematics Type B, the number of perfect scorers increased, but the number of students in Grades 1, 2, and 3 decreased.

Notably, this year's CSAT absentee rate was 14.7%, the highest since the test's introduction in 1994. According to Jongro Academy Haneul Education, the absentee rate was 15.4% for Mathematics Type B and 16.7% for the Social Studies section, with higher absenteeism in humanities-related subjects. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy Haneul Education, explained, "Due to the decrease in the number of students, the number of students meeting the minimum CSAT grade requirements is expected to drop significantly," adding, "The increase in absentee rates was concentrated in the fourth session's elective subjects, which is expected to adversely affect humanities students the most."

The institute emphasized that there was no significant difference between graduates and current students in this year's CSAT as well. Ban said, "We conducted similar analyses in two mock tests, and there was no change in the difference between graduates and current students compared to previous years."

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