[2023 CSAT] Easier Than Last Year's 'Bul-Suneung' with Maintained Discriminative Power (Comprehensive)

Korean "Easier than Last Year"
Math & English "Similar Difficulty to Last Year"
Comparison Target is 2022 'Bulsuneung'
Harder than September Mock Test, Higher Perceived Difficulty
Controversy over Elective Subject Advantages Inevitable This Year Too

On the 17th, the day of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test, a test taker is moving to the exam site at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The overall difficulty level of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) held on the 17th is evaluated to be similar to or slightly easier than last year's 'bul-suneung' (extremely difficult CSAT). Korean language was somewhat easier, but math and English were similar to last year, maintaining their discriminative power.

Last year's highest standard scores for the CSAT were ▲Korean 149 points ▲Math 147 points, and the percentage of students achieving the top grade in English was 6.25%. Korean was the second most difficult since 2005, and math and English scores dropped by 7 to 14 points compared to the previous year, with the top grade percentage in English halving.

This year's September mock test highest standard scores were ▲Korean 140 points ▲Math 145 points ▲English top grade percentage 16.0%. In the June mock test by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), the scores were ▲Korean 149 points ▲Math 147 points (Geometry) ▲English top grade percentage 5.7%. Compared to the relatively easier September mock test, the perceived difficulty level is expected to have been much higher.

Admissions Industry: "Korean somewhat easier, English and Math similar or easier"

On the 17th, the day of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test, academy instructors are operating a problem analysis situation room at the Jongno Academy Gangbuk Headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

The admissions industry mostly evaluates the Korean section as easier than last year. However, opinions on math and English are divided between being similar and easier. For mid-to-high ranking examinees, the perceived difficulty was likely high, comparable to last year's 'bul-suneung'.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "Korean was somewhat easier than last year, but math and English were as difficult as last year's bul-suneung," adding, "The overall trend seems to focus on securing discriminative power."

Lee Man-gi, director of Uway Education Evaluation Research Institute, said, "Korean was slightly easier than the 2022 CSAT, while math and English were both similar in difficulty, and there will be advantages and disadvantages depending on the elective subjects," advising, "If there is a 1-2 point difference from the expected grade cutoffs, it is better to take the university-specific exams."

Kim Won-jung, head of admissions strategy at Gangnam Daesung Academy, evaluated, "The 2023 CSAT was somewhat easier in Korean, math, and English compared to last year's difficult test. As an integrated CSAT for humanities and sciences, it had sufficient discriminative power overall, and for math, students who chose Probability and Statistics likely still felt a high level of difficulty."

Teacher Group: "Similar to or slightly easier than last year"

The University Education Council's College Admission Counseling Teachers Group is explaining the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test question trends at the Government Sejong Complex on the 17th.

The university admissions counseling teacher group under the Korea Council for University Education also evaluated the test as similar to or slightly easier than last year. Kim Chang-mook, a teacher at Seoul Kyungshin High School, said, "Korean, math, and English were all similar to or slightly easier than last year," adding, "Perceived difficulty varies by student, but if it is similar to last year, discriminative power will be very prominent, especially the influence of the math section, which students find difficult, will be similar to last year."

Kim Yong-jin, a Korean language teacher at Dongdae Girls' High School, analyzed the Korean section, saying, "The difficulty was similar to the September mock test and slightly easier compared to the difficult 2022 CSAT."

The math section was evaluated as similar to last year. Jo Man-gi, a teacher at Namyangju Dasan High School, said, "It is similar to this year's September mock test and last year's CSAT, but some students may feel it was easier," adding, "The common subjects were designed to be difficult enough to make students feel burdened."

Regarding the English section, the teacher group evaluated it as average, but the admissions industry assessed it as similar to or more difficult than last year. Yoon Hee-tae, a teacher at Seoul Yeongdong Il High School, said, "It was somewhat easier than last year's CSAT but slightly more difficult than this year's September mock test."

Since this CSAT was also a test with discriminative power rather than an easy test, examinees should plan their admissions strategies conservatively.

Teacher Kim advised, "Examinees should decide whether to apply for remaining early admissions and university-specific exams based on their provisional scores," adding, "Since the transition to the integrated humanities and sciences CSAT last year, the accuracy of provisional scoring has decreased, making score prediction difficult. For tests with difficulty, it is necessary to judge conservatively and actively participate in university-specific exams."

Kim further explained, "Students who found math difficult should judge their scores conservatively rather than optimistically assuming they will do well in the regular admissions, as the accuracy of provisional scoring is not high," and "Currently enrolled students tend to apply optimistically in early admissions, so it is necessary to actively consider whether to apply for university-specific exams."

Test Designed Considering Repeaters Ratio... Advantages and Disadvantages of Elective Subjects Continue

Yunbong Park, Chair of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) Committee and professor at Chungnam National University, is briefing on the 2023 CSAT question direction at the Government Sejong Complex on the 17th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

This CSAT is the second year of the integrated humanities and sciences CSAT, with variables including the possibility of repeating last year's 'bul-suneung' difficulty and a repeater ratio exceeding 30%. Park Yoon-bong, chair of the CSAT test committee (Professor of Chemistry at Chungnam National University), explained at a briefing on the CSAT test direction held at the Government Sejong Complex, "We aimed to set questions at a level that students who have faithfully completed school education can solve without private tutoring," adding, "This year, we made great efforts to increase the perceived linkage with EBS materials to allow easier access to the questions."

Lee Kyu-min, president of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, said, "Difficulty is influenced not only by the ease or difficulty of test items but also by the level of the examinee group taking the test that year," adding, "We minimized differences in averages, raw scores, and standard scores between subjects to match the level of this year's examinee group."

The controversy over advantages and disadvantages of elective subjects in Korean and math is expected to continue this year. Teacher Kim Chang-mook explained, "Math is expected to occupy a large portion of the total score as last year, and score differences between math elective subjects will appear somewhat this year as well." Woo Yeon-cheol, head of admissions strategy research at Jinhaksa, evaluated, "In previous CSATs, the common math subject was somewhat difficult, and it was challenging to equalize the difficulty between elective subjects."

CEO Lim Seong-ho said, "The Geometry subject was relatively easier than last year," but added, "Currently, the standard score for Calculus is expected to be the highest."

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation standardizes elective subject scores using the average scores of groups obtained from the common subjects to adjust for advantages and disadvantages. In other words, the higher the average raw score in the common subject, the higher the adjusted standard score. This is because students taking Language and Media in Korean and Calculus in math continue to have higher standard scores.

President Lee Kyu-min said, "If we do not adjust for difficulty differences in elective subjects as we do now, students choosing easier subjects will have an advantage, causing examinees to flock to easier subjects," adding, "It is difficult to completely overcome the advantage and disadvantage problem when calculating all elective subjects as one area score, as in Korean and math."

This year's number of CSAT examinees was 508,030, a decrease of 1,791 (0.4%) from the previous year. Current students numbered 350,239 (68.9%), graduates 142,303 (28.0%), and other applicants such as GED holders were 15,488 (3.1%). The ratio of graduates and GED holders is 31.1%, the highest since the 1997 academic year. The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation will accept objections from today until 6 p.m. on the 21st. The objection review period is from the 22nd to the 29th. The final answers will be confirmed and announced at 5 p.m. on the 29th. CSAT scores will be notified to examinees on December 9.