This Year, Confirmed Cases Also Take the CSAT at Test Centers... Taking the Exam at Separate Test Sites

Symptomatic individuals must take exams in separate rooms within general test centers
Hospitalized confirmed cases can take exams at medical institutions
A 2m distance must be maintained in separate or isolated test centers

On the morning of the 18th, when the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test was held, examinees were waiting for the exam at the test site set up at Yeouido High School in Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), scheduled for November 17 this year, will allow COVID-19 positive individuals to take the exam at the test sites.

On the 4th, the Ministry of Education announced the 'COVID-19 Response 2023 College Entrance Management Plan,' which was prepared after gathering opinions from metropolitan and provincial education offices, universities, infectious disease experts, and consulting with the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The Ministry of Education will conduct CSAT application submissions from August 18 to September 2. Test sites will be secured by early October, and measures to facilitate the smooth administration of the CSAT will be prepared by mid-October. Early admission screening will take place from September 18 to December 14, and regular admission screening will be held from January 5 to February 1 next year.

Last year, examinees who were close contacts and under self-quarantine took the exam at separate test sites, and confirmed positive examinees took the exam in hospitals or residential treatment centers. However, this year, confirmed positive examinees will also take the exam at separate test sites prepared by test districts. For examinees under quarantine, a distance of at least 2 meters will be maintained between examinees at separate test sites, and protective measures for supervisors will be implemented.

Examinees who are quarantined due to COVID-19 confirmation or other reasons will be allowed to go out on the day of the CSAT to take the exam. They will travel to separate test sites using private cars or quarantine taxis, and those who are hospitalized and unable to go out will take the exam within the medical institution. Quarantine subjects refer to those who have received quarantine notices from health authorities and are undergoing inpatient treatment, self-treatment, or facility treatment, or are quarantined at home or in facilities.

General examinees will take the exam at the general test sites notified in advance. Up to 24 examinees will be assigned per test room. Temperature checks will be conducted at the entrance of the test site, and those with symptoms must take the exam in separate test rooms within the general test site. Each test site must secure about two separate test rooms, maintaining a distance of at least 2 meters between examinees.

Examinees must wear masks at all times in the test site. As last year, wearing KF 80 or higher health masks is recommended, but surgical masks or KF-AD grade masks are also acceptable. During lunch breaks, three-sided paper partitions will be installed as in the previous year. Starting November 3, two weeks before the CSAT, the Ministry of Education will operate a 'Joint Situation Room' with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation to identify the status of quarantined applicants and allocate test sites accordingly.

The Ministry of Education will also recommend that universities provide maximum opportunities for all examinees, including those confirmed with COVID-19, to take university-specific evaluations for the 2023 academic year. Examinees who need to take university-specific evaluations during their quarantine period must voluntarily report in advance to the local health center and the university they are applying to. They may go out carrying proof such as an admission ticket verifying their status as university-specific evaluation candidates.

Each university will establish separate test sites for symptomatic and quarantined examinees based on the 'University-specific Screening Quarantine Management Guidelines for COVID-19 Prevention' distributed by the Ministry of Education. Examinees will be assigned to general test sites or separate university test sites depending on symptoms or quarantine status. A distance of 2 meters between examinees in separate test sites is recommended.

Providing opportunities for confirmed positive examinees to take university-specific evaluations is a recommendation, and last year, some examinees were unable to receive such opportunities. Regarding this, a Ministry of Education official explained, "Universities are aware of this issue, and since it is difficult to operate practical exams such as physical education and music in separate test sites, we will announce measures to allow confirmed positive examinees to take exams by separating time slots as much as possible."

Since the 14th of last month, the Ministry of Education has been identifying confirmed positive applicants through the 'University-specific Evaluation Situation Room' and providing this information to universities in advance. This operation will continue until February 2023, when university-specific evaluations conclude.

Park Soon-ae, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, said, "We have established basic quarantine directions aiming to minimize the risk of infection during the CSAT and university-specific evaluations while ensuring that all quarantined examinees have the opportunity to take the exams."

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