CSAT to be Held on November 17... Mask-Wearing Decision to Be Made Later

Last month, when the June mock test for the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test was held, third-year students at Yongsan High School in Seoul were preparing for the exam. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) will be held on November 17. COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, including whether masks must be worn, have not yet been finalized.

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation announced the detailed plan for the 2023 CSAT implementation on the 3rd.

This year’s CSAT, like last year, will be conducted without distinction between humanities and sciences, with Korean and Mathematics sections organized as "common subjects + elective subjects."

Test takers will take the common subjects and choose one subject from Speech and Writing, Language and Media for Korean, and one subject from Probability and Statistics, Calculus, and Geometry for Mathematics.

As with last year, English, Korean History, and the Second Foreign Language/Hanja sections will be graded on an absolute evaluation basis. The Social and Science Inquiry sections allow students to select up to two subjects from 17 elective subjects without distinction between social studies and science. The Vocational Inquiry section also allows selection of up to two subjects from six available subjects.

In the fourth session Korean History and Inquiry sections, answer sheets for Korean History and Inquiry will be provided separately to test takers.

The Korean History section is mandatory; failure to take it invalidates the entire CSAT score and no results will be provided.

The Institute plans to set questions focusing on core and important content in a straightforward manner to assess the basic knowledge of Korean history that high school graduates should have.

The linkage rate with EBS CSAT textbooks is about 50% based on the number of questions per section and subject.

The application period for the CSAT is 12 days from August 18 to September 2, and score reports will be distributed to test takers on December 9.

Photos attached to the application must be recent color passport-style photos taken within six months from the start date of the application period, showing the upper body facing forward.

Score reports can be collected by current students from their schools, and graduates or those who took the qualification exam can receive them from the institution where they submitted their application. They can also be issued online through the score certificate issuance site using the test taker’s own digital certificate.

The score report shows standard scores, percentiles, and grades for each section and subject. For absolute evaluation sections such as English, Korean History, Second Foreign Language, and Hanja, only grades are shown.

Black computer-use sign pens, mechanical pencils, and white correction tape will be provided at the test site. Test takers may personally carry black computer-use sign pens, black pencils, white correction tape, erasers, and black mechanical pencil leads (0.5 mm).

The number of test takers per exam room is limited to 24 or fewer.

However, quarantine guidelines related to COVID-19 have not yet been finalized. The Ministry of Education and the Institute plan to prepare and implement CSAT quarantine measures in cooperation with health authorities and will separately inform test takers before the exam. Mask-wearing will also be decided through consultation with health authorities according to future quarantine guidelines and will be announced together.

Test takers who do not take the CSAT due to natural disasters, illness, final acceptance in early admission, military enlistment, or other reasons can apply for a refund of part of the CSAT fee from November 21 to 25.

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