There Was a Reason for the Early Closure of the 'September Mock Exam'... 30,000 More Repeat Test Takers Than Last Year

10,9192 Repeat Test Takers Apply... 39.8% Increase Compared to Last September's Mock Exam
High Demand Especially in Seoul, Some Schools Exceed Capacity and Accept Additional Applications
Over 3,200 Online and Offline Test Takers Exceed Application Demand
Ministry of Education "Will Arrange Additional Test Centers and Announce in July"

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 number of repeat test-takers, including graduates and repeat students, taking the September CSAT mock exam, which offers priority vaccination benefits, increased by 30,000 compared to last year.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation announced that the number of repeat test-takers, including graduates, who registered for the September mock exam from the 28th of last month to the 8th, was 109,192, which is 31,132 more than the 78,060 who took the September mock exam last year.

The total number of applicants was 517,234, with 408,042 current students, which is actually 1,245 fewer than last year. However, compared to the number of repeat test-takers who took last year’s CSAT (146,761), there is a difference of about 40,000 in the number of September mock exam takers.

The Ministry of Education stated, "It is estimated that this is due to an increase in demand for retaking the exam caused by changes in the admissions environment, such as some universities expanding CSAT-centered admissions, and an increase in incentives to apply for the September mock exam to prepare stably for the CSAT and college admissions through vaccination."

Even considering the increased demand due to changes in the admissions system, the unusually high turnout is largely attributed to the priority vaccination benefits. It is interpreted that even phantom applicants aiming for the Pfizer vaccine priority vaccination benefit for college entrance examinees were reflected. At Jongno Academy and Gangnam Hyper Academy, over 40% of applicants and test-takers aged 25 and older were recorded during the external student registration process for the September mock exam.

In particular, in Seoul, admissions at private academies for the mock exam filled up quickly from the beginning of the application period, and as offline test-takers at schools exceeded capacity, repeat test-takers had difficulties even from the application stage. The Evaluation Institute accepted additional test site applications from academies as the number of test sites became insufficient compared to the demand.

The Ministry of Education encouraged schools to accept as many applications as possible and included online test-takers in the priority vaccination target group.

The Ministry of Education stated, "In Seoul, where there were many applicants, even if the capacity at school test sites was exceeded, applications were accepted during the designated registration period to ensure the opportunity to take the exam."

According to the Ministry of Education’s registration results, among the applications exceeding capacity, about 1,500 examinees wished to take the exam at test sites, and about 1,700 wished to take it online.

The Ministry of Education announced, "We plan to prepare additional test sites for examinees who want to take the exam at test sites and provide guidance by the end of July."