Increase of 5 Questions Each in Social Studies and Science for the 2028 CSAT... 40 Minutes per Subject

System Designed Considering the Purpose of "Integration"
Aims to Cover Diverse Topics and Levels of Difficulty

In the 2028 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which will implement an integrated and converged format, the number of questions in the social and science inquiry subjects will increase from 20 to 25. Accordingly, the test time will be extended from 30 minutes to 40 minutes, and the end time of the CSAT, including the second foreign language, will be delayed by 20 minutes from 5:45 PM to 6:05 PM.

The Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation announced the "2028 CSAT Test and Scoring System" containing these details on the 20th. According to the college admission system reform plan announced in 2023, the integrated CSAT, which abolishes elective subjects in Korean, Mathematics, and Inquiry areas, will be implemented starting from the 2028 CSAT.

The Ministry of Education and the Institute explained, "After comprehensively considering the stability of the CSAT implementation and its utilization in college admissions, we finalized the number of questions, test time, and score report format for each area to be applied from the 2028 CSAT."

On the 14th, the day of the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test, examinees are waiting for the exam to start at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Minimal Changes in Korean, Mathematics, and English... Increase in Questions and Time for Social and Science Inquiry

The number of questions and test time in the Korean, Mathematics, and English areas will remain the same as the current system. The only difference is the abolition of elective subjects in the Korean and Mathematics areas. The Korean History area, which is a mandatory subject, will also be maintained at 20 questions and 30 minutes as it is now.

In the Inquiry area, social and science subjects will be changed from the existing 17 elective subjects to two subjects: 'Integrated Social Studies' and 'Integrated Science,' as elective subjects are abolished. Students taking the social and science inquiry areas must take both subjects. There are changes in the number of questions, test time, and scoring. First, the number of questions per subject increases from 20 to 25, and the test time extends from 30 minutes to 40 minutes. The score per question is also subdivided into ▲1.5 points ▲2 points ▲2.5 points. Vocational inquiry will also be limited to only 'Successful Vocational Life' without electives.

An official from the Ministry of Education said, "Since the curriculum is also integrated and created by combining several subjects, there were many opinions that more questions would be needed to cover various contents more evenly. Although there may be concerns about the increase in the number of questions, considering the burden on students for each question if the number is too small, we decided on a system of 25 questions and 40 minutes."

The issue of confusion with elective subject test papers is also expected to improve. Previously, students had to place only the test paper of the elective subject they chose out of 17 on their desk and solve it. The remaining test papers had to be placed in a storage envelope and put on the floor. Switching the order of the first and second elective subjects or placing both test papers on the desk simultaneously was considered cheating. In the 2028 CSAT, after taking the social and vocational inquiry test, the test papers will be collected, and then the science inquiry test papers will be distributed for the test, resolving this issue.

With the increase in time for the social and science inquiry areas and the process of collecting test papers, the number of questions and time for the second foreign language and Chinese characters area will be reduced from the 2028 CSAT. It will change from 30 questions and 40 minutes to 20 questions and 30 minutes.

On the morning of the 14th, when the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was held, examinees were preparing for the exam at the testing site set up at Banpo High School in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Attention on University Reflection of Science and Social Subjects

Although students must take both social and science areas from the 2028 CSAT, the reflection of subjects in university admissions is at the discretion of each university. For example, universities in science and engineering fields may only reflect the 'Science Inquiry' area to select students, while humanities fields may only evaluate the 'Social Inquiry' area.

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "In the future, diversity is expected to appear in how each university applies humanities and science inquiry subjects. For medical schools or natural sciences, additional points may be given to Integrated Science, or a new differentiated application method may be considered in case the difficulty levels of the two subjects in Integrated Social Studies and Science differ, similar to the current inquiry subject conversion standard scores."

Concerns were also raised that students might focus on only one subject considering university admissions. If the desired university only reflects the Science Inquiry score, students might not study social studies at all and may not properly take the test during the CSAT. Regarding this, the Ministry of Education stated, "Along with the introduction of the 2028 CSAT system, subjects learned after Integrated Social Studies and Integrated Science will be strengthened to evaluate higher-level areas in school records and improved to be reflected in college admissions. It may be an exaggeration to worry about 'academic disruption' by assuming some situations."

Meanwhile, with the reform of the CSAT test system, the format of the CSAT score report will also change. The method of providing scores will remain the same as the current system, with Korean, Mathematics, and Inquiry areas listed with standard scores, percentiles, and grades. Korean History, English, and Second Foreign Language/Chinese Characters areas will only list grades. The nine-grade classification will be maintained.