"Ah... it's over."
As the bell rang to signal the end of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test, exclamations of relief erupted simultaneously from those waiting outside the test centers for the students.
Parents are clapping their hands toward the test takers exiting the examination site in front of the gate of Changwon Sapa High School, the second test center of the Gyeongnam Office of Education District 88 (Changwon) for the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test. Photo by Lee Seryung
In front of Changwon Sapa High School, the second examination site in the 88 (Changwon) district managed by the Gyeongnam Office of Education, the area was crowded with people waiting for test takers starting 30 minutes before the end of the exam.
Parents, who had been gazing endlessly at the school corridor windows visible beyond the firmly closed school gate, hurried toward the entrance as soon as they caught sight of their children.
In front of Changwon Sapa High School in Gyeongnam, a person is holding a bouquet of flowers, waiting for a test taker to come out after taking the College Scholastic Ability Test. Photo by Lee Seryung
As the test takers began to exit the gate one by one, people instinctively applauded and offered words of encouragement such as "You worked hard" and "Well done."
Some handed bouquets to students who had completed their long journey, others waved enthusiastically at students in the distance, and many were busy capturing the moment on their phones.
A test taker who took the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test at Changwon Sapa High School in Gyeongnam is returning with his mother. Photo by Lee Seryung
The test takers, who had poured out their wisdom and knowledge while wrestling with the exam questions, responded with smiles to the cheers of strangers before running to those who had been waiting for them.
Some shouted "Manse" to their friends, some hugged and held hands with their parents, and others embraced bouquets in their arms-each one savoring a sense of liberation in their own way.
At Changwon Sapa High School, the second testing site of Gyeongnam Office of Education District 88 (Changwon), a test taker is coming out while shouting "Banzai". Photo by Lee Seryung
The students chattered, saying, "Wow, I can't believe I finished the CSAT," "It's all done, finally," and "Until the scores come out, let's just assume we're in the top grade."
On this day in the Gyeongnam region, a total of 32,955 students took the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test at 1,277 regular test sites across 105 schools in the province.
Among them, the absentee rate for the first period was 8.18%, which is a decrease of 1 percentage point from last year's 9.18%.
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