Ministry of Education Requests Investigation into College Entrance Exam English Passage Similar to Ilta Gangsa Text

Large Entrance Exam Company 'Iltagangsa' Passage Similar to CSAT Passage

It was belatedly revealed that the Ministry of Education requested a police investigation regarding the controversy over the English passage in the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The passage in question was the same as one used in a mock exam created by a 'Ilta Gangsa' affiliated with a major test preparation company, sparking controversy. 'Ilta Gangsa' refers to the most popular instructors in academies or online lectures.

(From the left) Question 23 of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test English section and a mock exam question distributed by an instructor from a major private academy.
[Photo by Online Community]

On the 8th, the Ministry of Education announced that it had requested a police investigation last July into the background of the English question number 23 in the 2023 CSAT, held in November 2022, which was similarly presented to a passage from a test prep instructor's teaching material. The passage was excerpted from the book "Too Much Information" by Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the domestic bestseller "Nudge."

However, immediately after the CSAT, claims arose mainly in test prep communities that this passage was identical, except for one sentence, to a passage from a private mock exam provided by a famous instructor. There were also many criticisms that students who had taken the mock exam in advance and attended the explanatory lectures had an advantage. Comparing the two passages, the content was the same, but the questions were different. The CSAT focused on 'understanding the main idea,' while the private mock exam asked to identify 'words used inappropriately.' As a result, among about 660 objections received by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) within five days after the CSAT, around 100 were concentrated on English question number 23.

However, KICE did not even review question 23 in the English section. The reason was that it was not subject to review because the objections were not about errors in the question or answer. KICE stated, "Although English question 23 shares the same source passage as a private mock exam question by a specific instructor, the question types and answer choices differ." The question created by the famous instructor asked about the meaning of vocabulary in the passage, while the CSAT question asked about the theme of the sentence, a 3-point question with a different type.

A famous entrance exam academy instructor who previously created content similar to the 2023 CSAT English passage.
[Photo by Online Community, Screenshot from a Famous Entrance Exam Academy Website]

KICE also reviews whether similar questions exist in the test creation process if mock exams from test prep companies are published commercially. Regarding English question 23, they explained that it was difficult to verify questions individually provided by instructors during lectures, so they could not review them.

However, when the Ministry of Education operated the 'Private Education Cartel Reporting Center' last year and the issue was raised again, the Ministry changed its stance. This was eight months after the CSAT had ended. It is also known that the Board of Audit and Inspection launched an audit into why the Ministry of Education and KICE recognized the controversy but took delayed action.

The instructor who created the question stated, "It is correct to see it as purely a coincidence," and did not disclose any official position.

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