First Integrated CSAT June Mock Exam... Increase in Science Track Repeat Test Takers

Integration of 'Common + Elective Subjects' in Korean and Math Areas
Increase in Science Track Repeaters as Pharmacy Changes to 6-Year Program Next Year
EBS Linkage Rate Lowered to 50%... Korean and English at 51.1%

On the morning of the 3rd, high school seniors preparing for the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) are getting ready for the June mock exam at Yeouido Girls' High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. A total of 482,899 students registered for the first mock exam of the 2022 CSAT, which has been reorganized into an integrated liberal arts and science format. Among them, 415,794 (86.1%) are current students, and 67,105 (13.9%) are graduates and others.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The first mock test for the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which integrates liberal arts and science subjects, was held on the 3rd.

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation conducted the June mock test for the 2022 CSAT starting at 8:40 a.m. on the 3rd at 2,062 high schools nationwide (including education offices) and 413 designated academies.

The number of applicants for this year's mock test was 482,899, a decrease from last year. Among them, 415,794 were current students (86.1%), and 67,105 were graduates and other test-takers (13.9%). The number of current student applicants decreased by 735, while graduate applicants increased by 348, resulting in an overall decrease of 387 applicants compared to last year.

According to Jongro Academy Haneul Education, although the number of graduates in February this year (437,950) decreased by 63,666 compared to last year (501,616), the number of repeat test-takers actually increased. This is due to the expansion of the regular admission ratio in major metropolitan universities for the 2022 academic year and the transition of pharmacy schools to an integrated 6-year system, which also led to an increase in science repeat test-takers. The number of applicants for the science inquiry subjects in the June mock test also increased by 1.4% (16,119) compared to last year. There are also forecasts that the number of repeat and gap-year students will increase because science students are perceived to have an advantage in mathematics under the integrated liberal arts and science CSAT.

On the 3rd, the first mock test of the 2022 College Scholastic Ability Test, conducted under the integrated liberal arts and sciences system, was held at Yeouido Girls' High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, where students are filling out OMR cards.

Starting from this year's CSAT, according to the 2015 revised curriculum, the Korean language and mathematics sections will be structured as ‘common subjects + elective subjects’. For the Korean language section, test-takers must choose one elective subject between ‘Speech and Writing’ and ‘Language and Media’. For mathematics, one elective subject must be selected from ‘Probability and Statistics’, ‘Calculus’, and ‘Geometry’.

This year, the EBS linkage rate will be lowered from 70% to 50%. The June mock test EBS linkage rate announced by the institute on this day is 51.1% for the Korean and English sections, and 50% for all other sections. In the case of English, questions are presented using an indirect linkage method by utilizing passages and themes similar to those in the EBS linked textbooks.

The institute stated, "We aimed to create questions that align with the content and level of the high school curriculum. To ensure high validity, even if the content had been previously tested, core and basic content covered in the curriculum was presented with some modifications in question format, conception, and approach. For the Korean and English sections, a variety of materials and passages were used based on the test scope, and for the other sections, we focused on assessments centered on thinking skills based on the characteristics of each subject."

The institute also operates an online website for test-takers who are in self-quarantine or have suspicious symptoms such as fever on the test day. The online test website will be available until 9 p.m. on the 4th, and those who submit answers will receive their scores separately, but these scores will not be reflected in the overall test-taker results.

Scores will be notified on June 30. Standard scores, percentiles, grades, and the number of test-takers per section and subject will be indicated. For English, Korean history, second foreign languages, and Chinese characters, only grades and the number of test-takers will be shown.