[2026 CSAT] "Korean, Math, and English All 'Slightly More Difficult'... Discriminatory Questions Included" (Comprehensive)

EBS and Admissions Experts Give Overall Assessment
Key Subjects Become More Difficult Compared to Last Year's CSAT

The Korean, Mathematics, and English sections of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) were all evaluated as "slightly more difficult" compared to last year's exam. Both EBS and the college admissions industry agreed that this year's CSAT featured a balanced set of questions with sufficient discriminatory power.

On November 13, Yoon Yoonkoo, a teacher at Hanyang University High School and head of the EBS field teacher team, stated, "The overall difficulty of the 2026 CSAT was assessed to be similar to last year's exam. However, some questions designed to distinguish the highest-scoring students were somewhat more difficult than those in the previous year, so test-takers likely perceived this year's exam as somewhat harder than the 2025 CSAT."

On the morning of the 13th, when the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was held, examinees were preparing for the exam at the testing site set up at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. 251113. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Yoon explained, "Overall, the difficulty level was similar to last year, but the questions aimed at differentiating the top and high-performing students were a bit more detailed." Last year's CSAT was evaluated as neither easy nor difficult, as it excluded so-called "killer questions" across all sections while still ensuring sufficient discriminatory power.

The EBS field teacher team unanimously stated that the Korean, English, and Mathematics sections were either similar to or slightly harder than last year's CSAT. Han Byunghoon, the lead EBS Korean instructor from Deoksan High School in Chungnam, commented, "The difficulty of the reading section increased, but the literature and elective subjects became easier." He added, "Overall, the difficulty is close to and similar to last year's CSAT, falling between last year's test and the mock assessment conducted by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation in September."

Shim Jooseok, the lead EBS Mathematics instructor from Incheon Sky High School, said, "Mathematics was overall similar to last year's CSAT, but it appears that questions with appropriate discriminatory power for high-performing students were included."

Kim Yeroung, the lead EBS English instructor from Daewon Foreign Language High School, stated, "In English, excessively complex and difficult passages were excluded, but the attractiveness of incorrect answer choices was generally increased to ensure discriminatory power." She added, "It was somewhat more difficult than last year's CSAT and similar to the September mock assessment." In the previous September mock assessment, the proportion of students scoring 90 points or higher in English (Grade 1) was 4.50%, which was lower than the lowest proportion recorded in the actual CSAT since the adoption of absolute grading in 2018, which was 4.71% two years ago.

College admissions companies also assessed that this year's CSAT was somewhat more difficult, thereby ensuring sufficient discriminatory power. Lim Sungho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "Both Korean and Mathematics were designed to be somewhat difficult, with clear discriminatory power." He continued, "It is estimated to be similar to or slightly harder than last year's CSAT. If it is at last year's level, it should be sufficient to distinguish high-performing students." He also predicted, "As the number of medical school admissions decreased by about 1,500 this year, the influx of repeat high-performing students likely decreased. With the overall academic level of the test-takers declining, we may see a higher-than-expected increase in the highest standard scores."

Kim Wonjoong, head of admissions strategy at Daesung Academy, stated, "Overall, the exam is assessed as having sufficient discriminatory power within the integrated liberal arts and science CSAT system." He added, "Recently, the common subjects in Korean and Mathematics have generally been at a moderate level, while the elective subjects have shown differences in difficulty. However, in this year's Mathematics exam, the common subjects were more difficult, raising the perceived difficulty, while among the electives, Probability and Statistics was relatively easy, and Calculus and Geometry were more difficult. As a result, the difference in standard scores between elective subjects is expected to widen again."

Lee Manki, head of the Uway Educational Evaluation Research Institute, commented, "Regardless of the difficulty levels of the social studies and science inquiry sections, considering the situation in Korean, English, and Mathematics, it appears that an appropriate level of discriminatory power was achieved in the total score across all subjects." He explained, "This means that the influence of Korean and Mathematics will ultimately become more significant."