In annual second Thursday of November, many people cheer test takers at the test site. What is going on? An important test that can change your life is beginning.

This test is the college scholastic ability test (CSAT). Many Korean high school seniors and many repeaters are taking the test. CSAT is to evaluate whether test takers can go to college and how much they know about the studies that they have learned. It includes Korean, math, English, Korean history, science, social studies, and so on. This year’s test is the fourth CSAT held since the outbreak of COVID-19. Unlike the 2021-2023 school year, which was held amid strong quarantine measures, applicants can take the test without wearing a mask for the first time in four years. There was no separate test site for COVID-19 confirmed patients. So confirmed patients could also be the same classroom as general test takers. The Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) actively recommended wearing a health mask above KF94 or KF80 for confirmed and suspected patients.

Due to expensive private education expenses, people who don’t like to take care of their children has increased. Some people questioned whether students can fully prepare for the high-level questions of the CSAT only with school classes. So the government said it will exclude “killer questions” from the CSAT from this year, which are controversial outside the curriculum. (However, it is said that it is a separate matter between the questions being presented within the curriculum.) Instead of the killer questions, there were more middle-level questions. A parent of a test taker from Seoul said, “It has become more difficult than before the killer question came out, and if schools cannot properly prepare for college entrance, students will eventually have no choice but to learn on the academy.” The government admitted that though the killer questions were eliminated in this CSAT, it was a more difficult test. An examinee who took the CSAT said, “Even though the killer questions are gone, I don’t think private education will decrease.”

There were opinions that there may be no perfect score of 2024 CSAT. Finally, the Korean Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation announced the result of this CSAT on December 7^th. There was not perfect score for the high school senior in this CSAT, but only one perfect score came out. The test taker who got the perfect score, Yuria is a graduated. She said she had decided to retake the test because she thought she would not be able to go to medical school with her last year’s CSAT score. She also mentioned “Read the questions meticulously and study in the morning “ as the way to perfect score. Wish all 2024 CSAT test takers success in their goal.