Evaluation Institute Announces 2025 CSAT Scoring Results
1055 Perfect Scores in Korean, 1522 in Math
Over 20,000 Students Achieve Top Grade in English, Up from Last Year
"Inquiry Subjects Show Advantages and Disadvantages Depending on Each University's Conversion Method"
The 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was easier compared to last year. The highest standard scores dropped by 11 points in Korean and 8 points in Mathematics, reducing the differentiation among top scorers. The number of students achieving the top grade in English reached over 20,000. Meanwhile, the difficulty level in the inquiry subjects varied by subject, likely causing advantages or disadvantages depending on the chosen subjects.
CSAT Difficulty 'Easy', Korean and Math Standard Scores Decline
On the afternoon of the 5th, Oh Seung-geol, President of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, is answering reporters' questions regarding the grading results of the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test at the Ministry of Education briefing room in the Government Sejong Complex. On the right is Kang Tae-hoon, Chair of the CSAT grading committee. Photo by Yonhap News.
On the 5th, the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation announced the '2025 CSAT Scoring Results' at a briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex. The results will be notified to test takers nationwide tomorrow, the 6th.
Kang Tae-hoon, the chief scorer and professor at Sungshin Women's University, stated, "This CSAT was well managed in terms of difficulty compared to any previous CSAT," adding, "For Korean, the top grade cutoff is 131 points (standard score) with a perfect score of 140 points, so we expect smooth differentiation among the top 4% of students."
A total of 463,486 students took this CSAT, including 302,589 current students and 160,897 graduates and GED holders. By subject, 461,252 took Korean, 443,233 took Mathematics, 459,352 took English, and 463,486 took Korean History. For social and science inquiry subjects, 447,507 took the social/science inquiry, 3,628 took vocational inquiry, and 44,102 took the second foreign language/Chinese characters.
This CSAT, the first since the increase in medical school admissions, was generally analyzed to be of easy difficulty. Consequently, there are forecasts that differentiation among the highest scorers will decrease. Eleven students achieved perfect scores across all subjects, with 4 being current students and 7 graduates.
Professor Kang evaluated, "The Korean section was easier than last year's CSAT and this year's June mock test but somewhat more challenging than the September mock test this year." Regarding Mathematics, "It was easier than last year's CSAT and this year's June mock test but somewhat more difficult than the June mock test." For English, "The proportion of students receiving the top grade decreased compared to the September mock test this year but increased compared to last year's CSAT and the June mock test."
The highest standard scores by subject also declined compared to last year. The standard score indicates how far a raw score deviates from the average; if the test is easier and the average is higher, the highest standard score decreases. The highest standard score in Korean was 139 points, 11 points lower than last year's 150 points. The highest standard score in Mathematics was 140 points, down 8 points from last year's 148 points.
The number of perfect scorers (highest standard score) was 1,055 in Korean and 1,522 in Mathematics. In last year's 'difficult CSAT,' there were 64 perfect scorers in Korean and 612 in Mathematics, so this year’s numbers increased approximately 16.5 times and 2.5 times, respectively.
In the English section, which is graded on an absolute scale, the top grade rate was 6.22% (28,587 students), up 1.51 percentage points from last year's 4.71%. With over 20,000 students achieving the top grade, differentiation among the highest scorers was not high.
Record High Number of Students Taking Both Social and Science Inquiry Subjects
This year, as more universities relaxed restrictions on subject choices for science and engineering departments, natural science students increasingly chose social inquiry subjects instead of science inquiry, a phenomenon called 'Satam-run (Satam+run).' This has made predicting inquiry scores more difficult than last year.
Notably, 47,723 students took one social inquiry subject and one science inquiry subject, about three times more than last year's 15,927. This is the largest number since the integrated CSAT was introduced in 2022. The number of students taking only social inquiry subjects also reached a record high of 225,135, a 12.6% increase from last year's 199,886. Conversely, students taking only science inquiry subjects numbered 174,649, the lowest since 2022.
The difficulty of inquiry subjects was analyzed to be more discriminating than Korean, Math, and English. However, perceived difficulty varied among chosen subjects, likely causing advantages or disadvantages depending on the subject.
Among the nine social inquiry subjects, six saw an increase in the highest standard scores compared to last year, indicating higher perceived difficulty. Life and Ethics rose from 65 to 77 points, the highest increase. Ethics and Thought increased to 73 points (from 63), Korean Geography to 69 points (65), World History to 68 points (63), World Geography to 68 points (67), and East Asian History to 67 points (66). Conversely, Politics and Law (66 points), Society and Culture (69 points), and Economics (72 points) saw decreases in highest standard scores.
For science inquiry, only two of eight subjects saw an increase in highest standard scores. Biology 1 rose to 70 points (69), and Earth Science 1 to 72 points (68). Meanwhile, Chemistry 2 dropped to 73 points (80), Chemistry 1 to 65 points (69), Physics 1 to 67 points (69), Physics 2 to 70 points (74), and Biology 2 to 72 points (73). Earth Science 2 remained the same at 72 points.
Regarding the CSAT scoring results, Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "In the top-tier Korean and Mathematics sections, Mathematics showed relatively higher differentiation." He added, "In the 2025 regular admissions, Mathematics will be more important than Korean, and the inquiry section will see significant advantages or disadvantages depending on each university's inquiry conversion standard score announcements." He also noted, "The number of repeat test takers (graduates or above) reached the highest in 20 years since 2006, so the influence of top-tier repeat test takers could be considerable."
Kim Won-jung, head of the admissions strategy office at Daesung Academy, analyzed, "The 2025 CSAT was relatively easier than the previous year but overall maintained differentiation. Students who chose Calculus are still expected to have an advantage over those who chose Probability and Statistics."
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