Lee Ju-ho: "We will enhance the fairness of the CSAT"... Changing elective subjects to common subjects in the CSAT (Comprehensive)

All High School Grades Use 5-Level Internal Assessment
Absolute and Relative Scores Recorded Together
Stricter Qualification Criteria for CSAT Question Committee Members

The government will abolish the existing elective subjects and introduce an integrated subject system starting from the 2028 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The aim is to standardize evaluation criteria among students to eliminate unfairness. Along with this, the current high school grading system of 9 levels will be reorganized into 5 levels starting in 2025.

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

On the afternoon of the 10th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho announced the "2028 College Entrance Examination System Reform Draft" at the Government Seoul Office. This applies to the 2028 CSAT, which will be taken by current middle school second-year students. The Ministry of Education reported this plan to the National Education Commission and requested feedback on the same day.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee stated, "Since the CSAT has a significant impact on our students among evaluations, it must be fair above all else," adding, "We have prepared a draft that supports university talent selection and preparation for future society in a rational, realistic, and future-oriented direction, focusing on the two major pillars of the entrance exam: the CSAT and high school internal grades."

The biggest change is the reorganization of subjects currently evaluated as electives?Korean, Mathematics, Social Studies/Science, Vocational Education, and Second Foreign Language/Classical Chinese?into common subjects. According to the reform plan, these will be integrated into Common Korean (Speech and Language, Reading and Writing, Literature), Common Mathematics (Algebra, Calculus I, Probability and Statistics), Integrated Social Studies, Integrated Science, and Successful Vocational Life. Among these, for Mathematics, "Calculus II + Geometry" will be excluded from the common subjects, and the introduction of an elective "Advanced Mathematics" area is under consideration.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Education explained that under the previous elective subject system, rather than choosing various subjects suited to their aptitude, students tended to concentrate on specific subjects advantageous for securing standard scores in the CSAT. Especially since the high school credit system to be applied from 2025 is based on subject segmentation and convergence, this reform also reflects the intention to align with it. The Ministry stated, "We will evaluate all students with the same content and criteria to assign scores fairly and simply," and added, "Questions will be based mainly on subjects generally offered in the curriculum and covering major content areas, maintaining the same learning volume as the current CSAT."

The Ministry will also reform the internal grading system alongside the high school credit system starting in 2025. The current 9-level system will be changed to a 5-level system to ease competition. The Ministry noted that major countries worldwide, including the United States, Japan, France, Australia, and Hong Kong, mostly implement a 5-level grading system such as 'A to E.'

However, to prevent confusion in evaluation methods by grade, absolute evaluation (A to E) will be applied for all grades 1, 2, and 3, while relative evaluation (levels 1 to 5) will be recorded concurrently. The Ministry explained, "This is to relieve parents and students from excessive competition," and added, "The 5-level relative evaluation recorded serves as a supplementary measure to help absolute evaluation settle in the field." On the other hand, the CSAT will maintain the existing 9-level system for institutional stability.

Additionally, to eradicate interest cartels, standards will be strengthened throughout all stages of CSAT question management. First, qualification criteria for CSAT question setters and reviewers will be tightened to exclude those engaged in private education for profit. Also, committee members will be randomly selected to prevent academic, regional, or personal connections, and their tax information will be verified. After question setting, private education profit activities based on participation experience in CSAT or mock evaluations will be prohibited for five years.

To apply these changes in the field, plans to enhance teachers' evaluation capabilities were also presented. This includes revising guidelines to strengthen essay and descriptive evaluations and establishing a basis for this. Furthermore, training to enhance evaluation capabilities will be conducted for teachers through about 3,000 core and leading teachers.

Regarding a reporter's question about the possibility of changes in differentiation due to the college entrance reform, Deputy Prime Minister Lee responded, "The overall subject system has hardly changed," adding, "Whether it becomes more difficult, more burdensome, or less so depends on how this system is operated in the future."

On the question about maintaining the 40% ratio for regular admissions, he explained, "It is a matter of whether to change the '4-year advance notice system,'" and added, "Since it was decided after a significant debate and conflict during the previous administration, shaking it could excessively undermine the stability of the entrance exam."

Regarding concerns about having to retake first-year subjects, he said, "On the contrary, Integrated Social Studies and Integrated Science are placed in the first year, and many Mathematics and Korean subjects are included in the second and third years," adding, "Therefore, I believe that if schools balance the curriculum accordingly, the content for grades 1, 2, and 3 can be sufficiently learned, leading to preparation for the CSAT."

In response to criticism that taking only Integrated Science might hinder the cultivation of advanced talents, he replied, "Since it is a subject studied in a convergent manner, it will rather advance the nurturing of scientific talents."

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