June Mock Exam Results, Evaluation Institute States "No Significant Performance Differences Between Current Students and Graduates"

Evaluation Institute Announces Results After Analyzing Scores

"We Do Not Intend to Make the CSAT Easier
Maintaining Previous Years' Question Trends with Appropriate Difficulty"

On the morning of the 18th, when the National Joint Academic Achievement Test organized by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation was conducted, third-year students were preparing for the exam at Sangam High School in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] An analysis of the June mock exam results for the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) showed that there was no significant difference in scores between current students and graduates.

Seong Gi-seon, president of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), stated at a briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex on the 6th, "When looking at grade distinctions, standard scores, grade distribution ratios, and top scores, no unusual differences were found between graduates and current students," adding, "We do not intend to make the CSAT easier and will maintain the usual level of difficulty while keeping the previous exam trends."

The June mock exam is called a "mini CSAT" because it is the first time graduates are included in the test. Normally, current students take mock exams administered by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, so there was not much difference in scores between graduates and current students. However, due to the delayed return to in-person classes caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this year and the inability to properly take the previous two mock exams, there were concerns about the academic gap between graduates and current students.

The results were unexpected. Based on three years of data, KICE analyzed the scores of current students and graduates and found only the usual level of differences, with no notable score anomalies caused by COVID-19 variables. Park Do-young, head of the CSAT Planning and Analysis Office at KICE, said, "Graduates tend to score better than current students," but added, "The gap between graduates and current students did not widen as much as feared."

Standard Score Cutoffs and Top Scores Similar to Previous Years
Graduate Proportion Expected to Increase in September Mock Exam
Uncertainty Remains on How Much More It Will Increase

The June mock exam scoring results showed that the standard score cutoff for grade 1 was 132 points in Korean, 132 points in Mathematics Type A, and 135 points in Mathematics Type B. These are almost the same as last year's June mock exam scores. Last year’s June mock exam grade 1 cutoff standard scores were 132 points for Korean, 130 points for Mathematics Type A, and 136 points for Mathematics Type B.

Regarding the highest standard scores, this year’s scores were 139 points in Korean, 143 points in Mathematics Type A, and 140 points in Mathematics Type B, which are not significantly different from last year’s 144, 140, and 145 points, respectively, according to KICE’s analysis. The standard score indicates how much a student's raw score deviates from the average score. If the exam is difficult, the average score drops, causing the highest standard score to rise; if the exam is easy, the highest standard score decreases.

However, a variable is how many more graduates with CSAT experience will take the exam in the future. According to KICE, the proportion of graduates among test takers was 14.8% in the June mock exam, 17% in September, and 28% on the actual CSAT. This year’s June mock exam had a graduate proportion of about 14.1%. Park explained, "We are monitoring the trend of increasing graduate proportions, and since we can estimate the graduate ratio among applicants this year as well, we will consider all of this when setting the exam."

A total of 395,486 students took this mock exam, which is about 82% of the approximately 480,000 applicants. Among them, 339,658 were current students and 55,828 were graduates. About 500 students took the exam via internet-based testing or online answer submission systems, but their results were not reflected in the scoring.