Final Mock Test Before CSAT Held... "Appropriate Difficulty Focused on Public Education"

Over 516,000 Applicants Nationwide
Increase in Current Students, Decrease in Graduates
Questions Favoring Private Tutoring Excluded

The September mock test, which is the final practice exam before the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test, will be held simultaneously across the nation on the 3rd. The September mock test applies the integrated CSAT system based on the "2022 College Scholastic Ability Test Basic Plan."

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation announced that the September mock test for the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test will be conducted simultaneously at 2,154 high schools and 533 designated academies nationwide on the 3rd.

On the 3rd, during the mock evaluation of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test, high school seniors are preparing for the exam at Geumcheon High School in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dongju

The number of test takers registered for this exam is 515,900, an increase of 27,608 compared to last year. Among them, 410,210 are current students, while 105,690 are graduates or others. The number of current students increased by 28,477, while the number of graduates and others decreased by 869. The number of graduate and other test takers has remained in the 100,000 range for three consecutive years: 104,377 in 2024, 106,559 in 2025, and 105,690 in 2026. Compared to last year, when many repeaters participated due to the expansion of medical school quotas, the decrease is only slight.

The September mock test is structured as "common + elective subjects" for Korean, mathematics, and vocational exploration. In the social studies and science exploration sections, students can choose up to two subjects from a total of 17. English, Korean history, and the second foreign language/Chinese character sections are evaluated on an absolute scale.

The test-setting committee designed the exam to thoroughly reflect the content and level of the 2015 revised high school curriculum across all areas and subjects, and to measure the academic abilities required for university education. In particular, the questions were prepared to match the content and level of the high school curriculum. According to the institute, the test focused on core and fundamental content to help normalize high school education.

Furthermore, to ensure the validity of the questions, even if certain content had been used before, if it was core and fundamental as covered in the curriculum, the committee modified the question format, approach, or perspective before including it.

The exam aims to assess the understanding and application of basic concepts necessary for university education, as well as the ability to solve problems and reason based on given situations. Each question was assigned differentiated points, taking into account the importance within the curriculum, cognitive level, question difficulty, and the time required.

Questions that would favor students who have learned and repeatedly practiced problem-solving techniques through private tutoring were excluded. Instead, questions of appropriate difficulty were evenly distributed to ensure discrimination based solely on content covered in the public education curriculum.

The Korean and English sections utilized a variety of passages and materials based on the test scope. The mathematics, social studies/science exploration, vocational exploration, and second foreign language/Chinese character sections focused on evaluating thinking skills based on the characteristics of each subject. Additionally, the linkage with EBS was maintained. The test increased the sense of connection by utilizing materials such as charts, diagrams, and passages included in the textbooks. The method of linkage varied by section and subject, using concepts, principles, passages, data, core topics, or arguments, or by indirectly modifying or reconstructing questions.

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