'September Mock Exam' Korean, English, Math Slightly Easy Due to Killer Questions Exclusion... Differentiation Through Choices and Order (Comprehensive)

EBS Connection Rate at a High Level of 50%
Excludes Difficult Passages and Vocabulary
Contains Discriminative Questions

The September mock test for the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was conducted on the 6th. As it was the first mock test to apply the government's 'killer question exclusion policy,' the difficulty levels of the Korean, Mathematics, and English sections were generally similar to or slightly more difficult than the June mock test. The EBS linkage rate for all three sections was also high, at around 50%.

Korean, Discrimination through Answer Choices

On the 6th, students are preparing for the exam at Bangsan High School in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where the September mock test for the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test was held. Photo by Joint Press Corps

The first session Korean section was analyzed by the admissions industry as being somewhat more difficult than the June mock test this year. According to the government policy, 'killer questions' were excluded, and discrimination appears to have been made through the answer choices.

EBS gave an overall assessment of the Korean section's difficulty on the day, stating, "It is analyzed to have been somewhat more difficult than the June mock test this year." They added, "In the common subjects of reading and literature, so-called killer questions were excluded, and the questions were designed based on the core content or concepts of the curriculum, closely linked to the EBS CSAT textbooks." The overall question linkage rate for the Korean section was identified as 51.1% (23 questions).

When asked by reporters how discrimination was secured without including killer questions, they explained, "The sophistication of the answer choices," adding, "They selected concepts likely covered in the public education curriculum and core concepts from EBS that most test-takers have encountered, choosing content that is not difficult and explaining it with sufficient examples."

Admissions academies also evaluated that there were questions with discrimination. Jongno Academy stated in a press release on the day, "Compared to the June mock test, existing high-difficulty killer questions were excluded," and "However, discrimination was secured through the difficulty of the answer choices." They added, "Difficult reading passages involving large amounts of information, excessive inference, technical terms, and issues causing advantages or disadvantages between humanities and science students were excluded," and "Relatively difficult questions in the reading passages were also linked to EBS passages."

On the other hand, Etoos Edu analyzed that the difficulty level was similar to the June mock test this year, but the perceived difference would be significant. Megastudy also noted, "The evaluation institute's effort to exclude 'ultra-high difficulty' questions was clearly visible," and "It was noticeable that they paid attention to the balance of each question to secure discrimination."

Both EBS and Jongno Academy commonly pointed out questions 8 to 11 (reading, science and technology) as highly discriminative. These were questions related to the 'piezoelectric effect' in the science and technology passage, where the amount of information to infer and the complexity of the answer choices were relatively high. This passage is included in EBS CSAT Special Lecture Science and Technology Lesson 7. Questions 12 to 17 (reading, integrated humanities topics) were also commonly mentioned. These are contents included in the fourth practice mock test of EBS CSAT Completion, and the answer choices appeared to be complex.

EBS also analyzed questions 27 (literature, mixed genres), 38 (language and media), and 40 (speech and writing) as discriminative questions. Meanwhile, Jongno Academy evaluated the literature questions as being at the June level. They analyzed that the speech and writing questions had a difficulty similar to the June mock test, while the language and media questions were somewhat more difficult than in June. Etoos Edu evaluated that the speech and writing questions might have felt somewhat tricky because three passages were linked.

Mathematics, Question Arrangement Changed

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The second session mathematics section was analyzed by the admissions industry as being at a similar level to the June mock test. Although no high-difficulty questions were included, there were changes such as the rearrangement of existing question types.

EBS gave an overall assessment of the mathematics section's difficulty on the day, stating, "It is analyzed to have been at a similar level to the June mock test this year and the 2023 CSAT." EBS explained, "It is very similar in composition to the June mock test this year, and based on the content and level of the 2015 revised mathematics curriculum, questions of various difficulty levels were evenly presented," adding, "Questions measuring understanding and application of basic concepts, reasoning through given situations to solve problems, and analytical and exploratory thinking abilities were evenly included."

They also added, "While excluding so-called 'killer questions,' questions with high discrimination were evenly included to maintain an appropriate difficulty level." The EBS linkage rate was 50% (15 out of 30 questions).

Admissions academies also evaluated the difficulty as moderate. Jongno Academy stated in their post-exam analysis, "Problems combining three or more mathematical concepts, high-level approaches, and problems using university-level concepts appear to have been excluded," and "Overall difficulty was somewhat easier or similar compared to the June mock test." However, they noted, "There were questions with somewhat complex calculation processes during problem-solving," and "Discrimination for mid-to-high level students was strengthened."

Etoos Edu also evaluated, "It was slightly easier than last year's CSAT and the June mock test this year," and "Although the questions were arranged differently, which might have been confusing, the difficulty of the questions themselves was not high." Megastudy also noted, "Due to changes in question numbers and types from previous tests, students familiar with the existing tests might have found it somewhat difficult."

Regarding specific questions, EBS expected questions 14 in Mathematics I, 22 in Mathematics II among common subjects, and questions 30 in Probability and Statistics, Calculus, and Geometry among elective subjects to have relatively high discrimination. Jongno Academy also considered questions 13, 14, and 30 in Probability and Statistics, 28 in Geometry, and 30 in Plane Vectors to be difficult. Etoos Edu evaluated question 14 as difficult. Megastudy analyzed that relatively 4-point questions such as 12, 13, 14, and 21 in the common subjects were tricky.

English, Difficult Vocabulary Excluded

On the 6th, high school seniors are checking their exam papers at Yeouido Girls' High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, during the 'September Mock Test for the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test.' Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The third session English section was also analyzed by the admissions industry as being at a similar level to the June mock test this year. However, it was evaluated that questions requiring thoughtful interpretation of passages were included, so the perceived difficulty might not have been low.

EBS gave an overall assessment of the English section's difficulty on the day, stating, "It was similar to or somewhat more difficult than the June mock test this year." They added, "Excessively abstract topics were excluded, and questions were designed focusing on content covered in the public education curriculum, requiring careful reading of passages rather than problem-solving techniques, thereby securing overall discrimination." The EBS linkage rate was identified as 53.3% (24 questions).

Admissions academies also evaluated the difficulty as moderate. Jongno Academy stated, "Problems causing difficulty in interpretation due to difficult vocabulary and complex sentence structures were greatly reduced," and "Vocabulary was also explained in detail with annotations within the text, aligning with the policy to exclude difficult vocabulary."

Etoos Edu analyzed, "The difficulty was easier than last year's CSAT and the June mock test this year," and "Abstract content passages decreased, and vocabulary level was moderate." However, they explained, "There were many questions that required some thought in the process of finding answers after reading, or included attractive wrong answers, so the perceived difficulty might not have been very low."

On the other hand, Megastudy evaluated, "There were no ultra-high difficulty questions, but the test was somewhat tricky," adding, "There were no new types or logical structures, but those lacking vocabulary skills might have found it difficult to choose answer choices."

Regarding specific questions, EBS evaluated questions 24 (title inference), 33-34 (blank inference), 36 (order of the text), and 39 (sentence insertion) as discriminative. Etoos Edu analyzed that students might have had difficulty finding answers in question 34 due to figurative expressions. They also considered questions 37 (order of the text), 38 (sentence insertion), 34, and 30 (vocabulary) to have been difficult.

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