Superintendent Lim Tae-hee Proposes College Admission Reform Including Complete Abolition of Relative Evaluation in School Records

Proposal for Implementing Absolute Evaluation in All High School Internal Assessments
Expansion of Written and Essay-Type Assessments Starting with Next Year's First-Year Middle School Students
Introduction of Five-Level Absolute Evaluation Instead of Relative Evaluation in the CSAT from the 2032 Academic Year

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education (Superintendent Lim Tae-hee) has presented a ‘Future College Entrance Exam Reform Plan to Restore the Essence of Education.’ The reform of internal assessment is targeted to begin with the new first-year middle school students of the 2026 academic year, while the reform of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and college admission screening is aimed for implementation in the 2032 academic year.

Lim Tae-hee, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, is announcing the "Future College Admission Reform Plan to Restore the Essence of Education" on the 21st. Provided by Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education

On the 21st, the Provincial Office of Education announced at a press conference the future college entrance exam reform plan concerning △ changes in internal assessment △ reorganization of the CSAT system △ improvement of college admission screening.

The reform plan was prepared with the goal of a ‘great transformation,’ not a passive revision, to restore the essence of education and enable schools to operate the curriculum normally.

Regarding changes in internal assessment, the plan aims to abolish relative evaluation, which causes excessive competition among students, and fully implement a five-level absolute evaluation system. Additionally, the expansion of written and essay-type assessments is planned to help students develop critical thinking skills.

Since the Provincial Office of Education can lead the changes in internal assessment, these will be applied sequentially starting from the first-year middle school students of the 2026 academic year.

The student record book will also adopt a checklist method to reduce teachers’ burden and provide more reliable and fair content. A three-stage scoring support system involving artificial intelligence, teachers, and evaluation expert teachers will be established.

However, if written and essay-type assessments are introduced and expanded, there may be issues with the speed and fairness of evaluation. Therefore, the Provincial Office of Education plans to fully activate the Gyeonggi Evaluation Management Center to develop and research evaluation techniques and create a fair evaluation system.

The biggest change is in the CSAT system reform. The Provincial Office of Education proposed introducing a five-level absolute evaluation instead of relative evaluation starting from the 2032 academic year CSAT to ease competition.

In particular, since the current CSAT system determines university admission based on a single exam, they suggested converting the CSAT into a qualification test to reduce its influence.

They also proposed introducing written and essay-type assessments in the CSAT to evaluate creativity, thinking ability, and problem-solving skills, and to establish a step-by-step scoring system.

Regarding the third session English listening test of the CSAT, they advocated for its ‘complete abolition.’ The English listening test has disparities in broadcasting facilities among schools and difficulties in handling unexpected situations, causing avoidance of operating CSAT test sites at certain schools.

They also proposed radical changes to college admission screening. The Provincial Office of Education emphasized that the separation of early and regular admission increases uncertainty for students applying to universities.

Therefore, they suggested unifying the screening into an ‘integrated screening’ that comprehensively selects candidates based on internal assessment, student record books, and CSAT scores. This is expected to reduce unnecessary applications by allowing prediction of acceptance chances and simplify the university selection process.

They proposed moving the CSAT date forward to September to secure a reliable scoring period for written and essay-type assessments. However, the timing of CSAT score report issuance will remain the same to enable operation of the integrated screening.

Additionally, they plan to reflect the second semester grades of the third year in college admission evaluation to ensure continuity of school life and provide opportunities for learning and growth until just before graduation.

The Provincial Office of Education plans to make continuous efforts to apply these reform plans in actual educational settings.

They will strengthen teachers’ capabilities for operating written and essay-type assessments and promote schools that encourage questioning for in-depth classes, fulfilling their role as the Provincial Office of Education. Advisory groups and policy implementation research committees will also be operated.

Superintendent Lim Tae-hee will also submit the college entrance reform plan as an agenda item for discussion at the Council of Superintendents’ education agenda and continuously present opinions to the Ministry of Education and the National Education Commission to build consensus for future college entrance exam reform.

On the day, Superintendent Lim Tae-hee said, “College entrance reform is an issue everyone agrees on, but since many communities are involved, I think it has not been smoothly resolved,” and expressed his ambition, “I will take the lead with the Provincial Office of Education in pushing this forward.”

He added, “If conditions are not met, we will create conditions; if methods are lacking, we will find them,” emphasizing, “The Provincial Office of Education will make steady efforts for college entrance reform.”

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