Reducing Burden on Examinees... Major Overhaul of Civil Service Exams Starting 2027

Ministry of Personnel Management Announces Legislative Notice
for Amendment to Civil Service Appointment Examination Decree

Starting in 2027, the Public Service Aptitude Test (PSAT), the first hurdle in the national civil service recruitment exam, will be separated and conducted as a distinct Common Competency Verification Test. Additionally, the Korean History subject in the Grade 9 national civil service open recruitment exam will be replaced by the Korean History Proficiency Test.

The Ministry of Personnel Management announced on the 13th that it will publicly notify the amendment to the "Civil Service Appointment Examination Decree" containing these details.

This amendment, which provides the basis for conducting the PSAT as a separate Common Competency Verification Test, is a follow-up measure to the PSAT joint utilization plan announced in December last year.

Once the reform is completed, examinees will be able to use their PSAT scores obtained once for various public sector recruitment exams, including the Grade 5 and 7 open competitive exams administered by the Ministry of Personnel Management.

Son Mu-jo, Director of Talent Recruitment at the Ministry of Personnel Management, said at a press briefing on the day that the background of the reform was that "Previously, the PSAT was included as the first test in the Grade 5 and 7 open competitive exams," adding, "Although it has considerable versatility, there were criticisms that it was limited in being used in other areas beyond those exams."

According to the Ministry of Personnel Management, the PSAT, scheduled to be implemented from 2027, will be divided into 'Advanced' and 'Basic' tests depending on difficulty.

The Basic test will be divided into three evaluation areas: verbal reasoning, data interpretation, and situational judgment, and will be administered once a year every July. The Advanced test will add constitutional law to the three areas and is planned to be administered once a year between February and March.

Furthermore, starting in 2027, the Korean History subject, a common subject in the Grade 9 national civil service open recruitment written exam, will be replaced by the Korean History Proficiency Test (Level 3 or higher) administered by the National Institute of Korean History.

This expands the application six years after the Korean History subject in the Grade 5 and 7 national civil service open competitive exams was replaced by the Korean History Proficiency Test in 2012 and 2021, respectively. The replacement level for the Korean History subject is Level 3 or higher, considering that the current Grade 5 and 7 open competitive exams require Level 2 or higher.

Yeon Won-jeong, Director of the Ministry of Personnel Management, said, "This reform is expected to increase compatibility among recruitment exams within the public sector and reduce the burden on examinees," adding, "We will continue to strive to make the civil service recruitment system more rational in the future."