"This Is Historic" This Year's CSAT 'Praise' Item... Already Hot in Secondhand Trade

The CSAT Mechanical Pencil Distributed Annually to Examinees
Color Changed to Prevent Cheating

The 'jade green' mechanical pencil distributed to students who took the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) has become a hot topic on secondhand trading platforms. This mechanical pencil, handed out to test-takers every year during the CSAT, has already become a popular item among collectors.

On the 14th, more than 10 posts requesting to purchase the CSAT mechanical pencil distributed that day were reported to have been posted on online secondhand trading platforms such as Bungaejangter.

The CSAT mechanical pencil is a mechanical pencil that the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation and the Ministry of Education began distributing annually to test-takers in 2006. The name "CSAT mechanical pencil" has now become established. The Ministry of Education distributes this pencil directly to prevent cheating at its source.

Clear jade-colored mechanical pencil distributed for this year's CSAT exam. Photo by X

To prevent cheating methods such as attaching small camera devices by obtaining similar mechanical pencils, the Institute has changed the pencil's color every year and never reveals it until the day of the CSAT.

Because of this, some collectors gather only CSAT mechanical pencils. This year's pencil, made in a "clear jade green" color, received favorable reviews among netizens. Netizens who saw photos of this year's CSAT mechanical pencil posted on social networking services (SNS) such as X (formerly Twitter) commented, "It’s so well made that I want to take the test just to get the pencil," "It’s the best ever," and "It’s too precious to use for just one day of the CSAT and then throw away."

The mechanical pencils for the CSAT change color every year to completely prevent cheating. Screenshot from SNS

Meanwhile, last year’s CSAT mechanical pencil also saw a surge in popularity on secondhand trading sites. Last year’s pencil was ivory beige, and it was praised as "the prettiest CSAT mechanical pencil ever released."

Among enthusiasts, the price of the CSAT mechanical pencil is generally around 10,000 won. Some prospective test-takers also purchase it to try out the pen’s "grip feel" in advance. Since it is an important writing tool used only once during the exam, they aim to familiarize themselves with the feel of holding it beforehand.