Nearly 90,000 Repeat Test Takers for This Year's CSAT... Highest Ever Recorded

Analysis of Jongno Academy... Impact of Excluding Killer Questions
"Will Increase Further if Medical School Quotas Expand in the Future"

Among the test takers of the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), it is expected that nearly 90,000 students who are retaking the exam after attending university, known as 'bansusaeng,' will be present.

On the 22nd, Jongro Academy projected that the number of bansusaeng for the 2024 college entrance exam would be 89,642, accounting for half (50.4%) of the total CSAT registrants this year (177,942).

On the morning of September 6, when the last mock exam before the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (November 16) was held, students were taking the test at Yeouido High School in Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

The scale of bansusaeng was estimated by the difference between the number of repeat test takers registered for the June mock exam and those registered for the CSAT. Typically, bansusaeng cannot take a leave of absence in the first semester but can from the second semester, so they generally do not participate in the June mock exam. On the other hand, repeat test takers and GED passers do participate in the June mock exam. In the June mock exam, 88,300 repeat test takers registered, while 177,942 registered for the actual CSAT, leading Jongro Academy to estimate the number of bansusaeng based on this difference.

This year, the number of bansusaeng increased by 8,526 compared to 81,116 in the 2023 academic year. According to Jongro Academy, this is the highest number since the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation began releasing mock exam registration statistics in 2011.

Jongro Academy explained, "With the recent surge in popularity of medical schools, it appears that top-tier universities’ students are retaking the exam to enter medical schools, while students from mid- to lower-tier universities are retaking to transfer to general departments in higher-tier universities." Additionally, there is an analysis that the number of bansusaeng increased further due to expectations that this year’s CSAT will be easier for top students, as the government has excluded so-called 'killer questions' (ultra-difficult questions) from the exam.

There is also speculation that the number of students dropping out of university midway, including bansusaeng, may increase further if the government expands medical school admission quotas in the future.

Jongro Academy stated, "Last year, a total of 97,177 students dropped out (including voluntary withdrawal) from general four-year universities nationwide, and this year the number may exceed 100,000. If medical school admission quotas are expanded in the future, the number of bansusaeng is expected to increase further."