2024 College Entrance Exam, Science Major Ratio Expected to Reach Record High of 52%

It is predicted that the proportion of science track students in the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) will reach an all-time high of 52%.

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

According to Jongro Academy on the 12th, an analysis of the number of students who took the science and technology exploration subjects in the education office academic assessment last November, taken by second-year high school students (currently third-year students), showed that the proportion of science track students was 50%.

Looking at the results of Jongro Academy's predictions of the actual proportion of science track students in the CSAT based on the number of students taking science and technology exploration subjects in the November academic assessments since the 2020 academic year, the proportion of science track students tends to increase by about 2 percentage points when repeat test-takers join. Accordingly, the final estimated proportion of science track students among the 2024 CSAT test-takers is predicted to be around 52%.

In fact, the proportion of science track students among repeat test-takers also showed an increasing trend, rising from 53.9% in the 2023 academic year to 57.2% in the 2024 academic year.

The proportion of science track students in the CSAT remained in the 30% range until the 2012 academic year but has steadily increased since then. It first recorded over 40% at 41.4% in the 2013 academic year and entered the 50% range at 50.0% in the 2023 academic year.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, explained, "Competition for university admissions in the science track is becoming more intense, and the admission cutoff scores for the liberal arts track may relatively decline. However, since there is also the variable of science track students applying to liberal arts programs through cross-application, predicting university admissions is not easy."