Busan's College Entrance Exam Applicants Decrease by 796 Compared to Last Year... 1,310 Fewer Graduates Expected, Declining School-Age Population Evident

2023 Academic Year College Scholastic Ability Test Application Status Table.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] This year, the number of applicants for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in the Busan area was counted at 27,628, a decrease of 796 compared to last year. The number of prospective graduates decreased by about 1,300 from last year, clearly reflecting the declining trend in the school-age population.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 6th that the number of applicants in Busan for the 2023 academic year CSAT, based on the application period from August 18 to September 2, decreased by 796 (2.8%) from last year to 27,628.

Among the applicants, prospective graduates numbered 19,546, a decrease of 1,310 (6.28%) from last year. Graduates numbered 7,150, an increase of 413 (6.13%), and GED examinees numbered 932, an increase of 101 (12.15%).

The 2023 academic year CSAT Korean and Mathematics sections will be conducted with a ‘common subject + elective subject’ structure.

Among the Korean section examinees, those who chose the elective subjects ‘Speech and Writing’ and ‘Language and Media’ were 18,621 (67.72%) and 8,875 (32.28%), respectively.

Among the Mathematics section examinees, those who chose the elective subjects ‘Probability and Statistics,’ ‘Calculus,’ and ‘Geometry’ were 12,733 (48.27%), 12,162 (46.11%), and 1,482 (5.62%), respectively.

In the Inquiry section, examinees can choose up to two subjects regardless of the category. Those who chose only social inquiry subjects numbered 13,420 (49.36%), those who chose only science inquiry subjects numbered 13,085 (48.13%), and those who combined both areas numbered 490 (1.80%). Most examinees applied to take two subjects.

Regarding the major subject choices in the Inquiry section, for social inquiry, the order of popularity was Life and Ethics > Society and Culture > Korean Geography > Ethics and Thought, and for science inquiry, the order was Biology I > Earth Science I > Chemistry I > Physics I.

Additionally, the number of applicants for vocational inquiry decreased by 143 (43%) from last year to 188. The number of applicants for the second foreign language was 2,733, an increase of 438 from last year’s 2,295.

The Busan Office of Education will begin full-scale CSAT operations such as test site allocation and examinee number assignment starting mid-September after the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation finalizes the list of CSAT applicants.

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