Ministry of Education Also Reviews Top Instructor Mock Exam Questions When Creating CSAT Tests

Measures to Address Suspicions of CSAT English Passage Leakage

The Ministry of Education announced on the 10th that it will "review the similarities between some English questions on the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and private mock exam questions" amid allegations that some questions closely resemble those from private mock exams.

Oh Seok-hwan, Deputy Minister of Education. Photo by Yonhap News

The Ministry held an 'Emergency Inspection Meeting on the Private Education Cartel' on the previous day at the Korea Educational Facilities Safety Institute in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, chaired by Vice Minister Oh Seok-hwan, together with EBS and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), to devise such measures.

Earlier, the passage for question 23 in the 2023 CSAT English section had been pointed out to be identical except for one sentence to a passage from a private mock exam created by a famous instructor from a major private academy immediately after the CSAT. Moreover, it was revealed that this passage was included in the reviewed version of the EBS CSAT textbook produced around the same time but was excluded from the final version.

The Board of Audit and Inspection is currently investigating the circumstances under which the passage was duplicated in three places: the CSAT, the private mock exam workbook, and the reviewed version of the EBS CSAT textbook.

The instructor who created the private mock exam is suspected of having made the materials using questions purchased from active high school teachers. Currently, four teachers along with this instructor have been referred for investigation on suspicion of violating the 'Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.' Regarding this, the Ministry of Education stated that the four teachers referred for investigation were confirmed not to have been involved in the 2023 CSAT or mock exam question setting. However, whether these four teachers participated in EBS textbook writing is "a matter under investigation and audit, so it cannot be confirmed."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, EBS, and KICE plan to improve the CSAT and EBS question-setting processes to prevent similar issues from recurring. KICE decided to systematize the pre-verification and post-management of question setters to block possible collusion with private education in the CSAT question-setting process. Until now, only commercially sold workbooks were checked, but from now on, even after entering the CSAT question-setting headquarters, they will acquire private mock exams from private education companies and review their similarity to the questions being set for the CSAT.

In preparation for objections claiming similarities between CSAT questions and private education company mock exams, procedures for reviewing objections and measures to be taken will also be established. Along with this, EBS will strengthen the principles for the composition and operation of teachers participating in textbook writing. Additionally, they plan to reorganize the security system to prevent leaks of questions under development or already developed.

The Ministry of Education reiterated that teachers participating in lectures, question setting, or academy textbook production for private education companies are fundamentally prohibited.

The Ministry stated, "We will take strict measures on issues reported through the 'Private Education Cartel and Corruption Reporting Center' and will prepare and announce specific measures to prevent recurrence and further strengthen the fairness of CSAT question setting."

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