Retaking the Year Improves Grades? ... 6 out of 10 Repeat Students Show Grade Improvement

Jinhaksa Analyzes 3,054 CSAT Test Takers from 2022 and 2023
59.4% Improved by 5 or More Percentiles in Korean, Math, and Science
6.6% Dropped by 5 or More Points... 34.0% Changed Less Than 5 Points

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Among students who chose to retake the college entrance exam, 6 out of 10 showed improved scores. It is analyzed that the environment allowing them to focus solely on the CSAT compared to their school days led to the score increase.

On the 31st, repeat students are taking the September CSAT mock exam at the Jongno Academy Gangbuk Main Branch in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

According to Jinhaksa on the 30th, an analysis of 3,054 examinees who took the 2022 and 2023 CSATs and the 2023 mock exam and submitted their scores showed that their average percentile scores in Korean, Math, and Inquiry subjects rose from 72.4 in 2022 to 79.9 in 2023, an average increase of 7.5 points.

The largest increase was in the Inquiry subject area. In 2022, the average percentile for Inquiry was about 1 point lower than Korean and Math, but in 2023, it was 1.5 points higher than Korean and 2.1 points higher than Math, showing an average increase of 9.4 points. The subject with the relatively smallest increase was Math, which rose by 6.2 points compared to the previous year, while Korean increased by an average of 6.9 points.

Notably, the score improvements were significant early on, with the June mock exam scores showing a marked improvement compared to the previous year's CSAT. This is interpreted as motivation and focused study occurring as students began retaking the exam (N-su).

However, after June, scores generally tended to decline. The drop was especially notable when comparing the September mock exam and the actual CSAT. This is because new graduates who did not take the September mock exam entered the CSAT, and some lower-ranking students did not participate, causing percentile scores to tend to fall compared to the mock exams.

Although graduates’ scores generally rose overall, not all students achieved score improvements through retaking the exam. When retaking the CSAT in 2023, only about 6 out of 10 students raised their average percentile (Korean, Math, Inquiry) by more than 5 points.

In the June mock exam, nearly 80% of students improved their average percentile by more than 5 points compared to the previous year's CSAT, but as they progressed through the September mock exam and the CSAT, the proportion of students whose scores declined increased, resulting in only 59.4% of examinees achieving a final improvement of more than 5 points. Meanwhile, 6.6% of students saw their average percentile drop by more than 5 points, and the remaining 34.0% showed less than a 5-point change, receiving scores similar to the previous year. This means that over 40% of students either showed no significant score change or actually experienced a decline.

Woo Yeon-cheol, head of Jinhaksa’s Admissions Strategy Research Institute, advised, “When starting to retake the exam (N-su), everyone hopes to achieve better results in the next CSAT, but one must not overlook the many cases where this does not happen behind the success stories around them. If you decide to try again, before looking into academies or online lectures, it is necessary to clearly diagnose your academic level and learning tendencies, and prepare thoroughly with a strong resolve to sustain a long-term race until the next CSAT and to exert your final effort.”