I Want to Drop Out and Take the Qualification Exam... The "Gangnam 3 Districts" Have the Most Dropouts

Statistics on Dropout Rates by Administrative District from the Korea Educational Development Institute
More Students Dropping Out in Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa Due to Academic Pressure
Number of Qualification Exam Entrants to SKY Universities Up 37% This Year

The area in Seoul with the highest number of students who dropped out of general high schools is the so-called "Gangnam 3 Districts," which refers to Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Songpa-gu.

On August 10, Yonhap News, citing dropout rate statistics by administrative district from the Korea Educational Development Institute, reported that last year, the three areas in Seoul with the highest dropout rates among general high schools were Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, and Songpa-gu.

On the 27th, 200 days before the College Scholastic Ability Test, students are studying on their own at the Gangnam Hyper Academy main branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, known as the Gangnam 8 School Districts, recorded the highest dropout rates at 2.7%, followed by Songpa-gu at 2.1%. This means that at least 2 out of every 100 students left school before graduation. In a school with 300 students per grade, on average, 6 to 8 students per grade are giving up on public education.

The dropout rate among general high school students in these areas has been continuously increasing in recent years. In Gangnam-gu, the dropout rate was 1.4% in 2021, rose to 1.9% in 2022, 2.2% in 2023, and reached 2.7% last year. In Seocho-gu, the rate increased from 1.3% in 2021 to 2.4% in 2022, then decreased to 1.8% in 2023, but rose again last year.

The main reason cited for students dropping out of general high schools in the Gangnam 3 Districts is the pressure of maintaining high academic grades. Due to intense competition, even a single low score on a midterm or final exam can make it very difficult to recover one's overall grade, leading some students to choose to drop out and take the qualification exam (Gomjeonggosi) instead, planning to enter university based solely on their College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) scores.

In fact, this year, the number of new students at Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University who entered through the qualification exam route was 259, an increase of 37% (70 students) from last year. This is the highest number in the past eight years.

There are also predictions that the dropout rate will rise further in the future. This year, the grading scale for academic performance was expanded from 9 levels to 5 levels starting with first-year high school students, significantly reducing the ability to distinguish among top-performing students.

Lim Seongho, CEO of Jongro Academy, analyzed, "Under the 5-level grading system, if a student does not make it into the top 10%, they immediately fall into the 2nd grade, which covers the 11% to 34% range. Students who did not receive a 1st grade in the first semester will be seriously considering whether to drop out."

Meanwhile, among academies specializing in repeat test-takers, so-called "package courses" that prepare students for both the CSAT and the qualification exam have emerged. Yangji Bisang Edu and Gwangneung Hansem Boarding Academy introduced comprehensive repeat-student programs last September to prepare for both the qualification exam and the CSAT.