The areas in Seoul with the highest number of students who dropped out after attending regular high schools were revealed to be Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Songpa-gu, collectively known as the 'Gangnam 3 districts'.

According to Yonhap News on August 10, citing statistics on dropout rates by administrative district from the Korea Educational Development Institute, the three areas in Seoul with the highest dropout rates among regular high schools last year were Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Songpa-gu.

The areas with the highest number of students who dropped out after attending regular high schools in Seoul were revealed to be Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Songpa-gu, collectively known as the 'Gangnam 3 districts'.

Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, part of the Gangnam 8 school district, had the highest dropout rate at 2.7%, followed by Songpa-gu at 2.1%. This means that at least 2 out of every 100 enrolled students quit school midway.

The main reason cited by students attending regular high schools in the Gangnam 3 districts for dropping out is the pressure of maintaining good grades.

Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, which are part of the Gangnam 8 school district, had the highest dropout rate at 2.7%, followed by Songpa-gu at 2.1%. This means that at least 2 out of every 100 enrolled students quit school before graduation. In a school with 300 students per grade, this translates to an average of 6 to 8 students per grade giving up on public education.

The dropout rate among regular high school students in these areas has been steadily increasing in recent years. In Gangnam-gu, the dropout rate was 1.4% in 2021, 1.9% in 2022, and 2.2% in 2023, rising to 2.7% last year. Seocho-gu also saw an increase from 1.3% in 2021 to 2.4% in 2022. Although it decreased to 1.8% in 2023, it rose again last year.

The main reason cited by students attending regular high schools in the Gangnam 3 districts for dropping out is the pressure of maintaining good grades. Due to intense competition, if a student receives a low score even once on a midterm or final exam, it becomes extremely difficult to recover their grades. As a result, some students choose to drop out, take the qualification exam (Gomjeonggosi), and apply to universities based solely on their College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) scores.

In fact, this year, the number of new students at Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University who passed the qualification exam reached 259, an increase of 37% (70 students) compared to last year. This is the highest number in the past eight years.

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There are also predictions that the dropout rate will rise further in the future. This year, the internal grade ranking system for first-year high school students expanded from 9 levels to 5, significantly reducing the ability to distinguish among top-performing students.

Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, analyzed, "Under the 5-level system, if you are not in the top 10%, you immediately fall into the 2nd grade range, which covers 11% to 34%. Students who failed to achieve the top grade in the first semester will face significant concerns about whether to drop out."

Meanwhile, among academies specializing in repeat test-takers, so-called 'package classes' that prepare students for both the CSAT and the qualification exam have emerged. Institutions such as Yangji Bisang Edu and Gwangneung Hansem Boarding Academy introduced comprehensive curricula for both the qualification exam and the CSAT in September last year.