The College Scholastic Ability Test or CSAT (Korean:대학수학능력시험;Hanja:大學修學能力試驗),also abbreviated as Suneung (수능;修能),is a standardised test which is recognised by South Korean universities. The Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) administers the annual test on the third Thursday in November.[1][2][3]
The CSAT was originally designed to assess the scholastic ability required for college. Because the CSAT is the primary factor considered during the Regular Admission round,it plays an important role in South Korean education. Of the students taking the test,as of 2023,65 percent are currently in high school and 31 percent are high-school graduates who did not achieve their desired score the previous year. The share of graduates taking the test has been steadily rising from 20 percent in 2011. [4][5] Despite the emphasis on the CSAT,it is not a requirement for a high school diploma.
Day-to-day operations are halted or delayed on test day.[5] Many shops,flights,military training,construction projects,banks,and other activities and establishments are closed or canceled. The KRX stock markets in Busan,Gyeongnam and Seoul open late.[6]
Purpose
The CSAT is designed to test a candidate's ability to study in college,with questions based on Korea's high-school curriculum. It standardises high-school education and provides accurate,objective data for university admission.[7]
Schedule
All questions are multiple-choice,except for the 9 questions in the Mathematics section,which are short answer.[8]
Period
Subject
Time
Number of questions
Points
Notes
Candidates must enter the testing room by 08:10. For the second to fifth periods,students must enter 10 minutes before the test begins.
The subordinate subjects are divided into three sections: social studies, science, and vocational education. Candidates may choose up to two subjects, either from the 17 science or social studies subjects, or from the vocational education subjects. For example, Physics II and Biology I may be chosen for the subordinate section since both are sciences, Chemistry I and Society and Culture may be chosen as well, but World history and Principles of Accounting may not–the former is in the social studies section, and the latter in vocational education. Only vocational high-school graduates can choose the vocational education section, accounting for only 1% of test-takers. The split between sciences and social studies has been fairly even, but in 2024, the number of students taking social studies subjects (225135) overtook the number taking sciences (174649), while the percentage of students taking one science and one social studies exceeded 10%.
In the voluntary second language/Classical Chinese section, the candidate chooses one subject.
Most high-ranked universities used to require applicants to take two science subordinate subjects and Geometry or Calculus in the mathematics section if they apply for a STEM major, and do not accept subordinate subjects in the same field (such as Physics I and Physics II).[7] However, since 2024, most universities abolished the two sciences rule, many opting for an extra scoring system instead. This lead to an influx of students from science to social studies. As of 2025, the only universities that require two science subjects for a STEM major are Seoul National University and most medical majors. Many universities also allow Probability and Statistics to be taken as well for a STEM major.
In 2023, the Ministry of Education announced revisions that will take effect starting in 2027, which includes abolishing electives, including Korean Language and Mathematics electives, and replacing different Natural science and social studies subjects with Integrated Science and Integrated Social Studies, which are taught at the 10th grade level in high school.
In the Korean Language section, candidates are assessed on their ability to read, understand and analyse Korean texts rapidly and accurately. Its 45 questions of the subject are classified into four categories:
Common topics
Questions 1-17: Reading
Questions 18-34: Literature
Elective topics (select 1 out of 2 options, Q35-45)
Speech and Writing
Language and Media
Common subjects
Reading
This category consists of four articles. Each passage has 3-6 questions from the topics of reading theory, humanities/arts, law/economy and science/technology respectively.
Passage Topic
Contents
Reading theory
Article about the significance of reading or a reading journal written by a student
Humanities
A passage about a thinker and their theories from the topics historiography or philosophy (Western and Eastern ethics, logic). The questions normally feature a single person presenting their opinions or two thinkers with opposing opinions.
Arts
Focus on an artist and their works in the fields of music, visual arts and architecture.
Texts generally focus on how specialised machines and systems work. Recently texts have focused on newer technologies such as 3D modelling and the metaverse.
Mixed
Some texts feature a combination of two topics. For example, in 2017 September mock exam, a question featuring both the arts and technology was about the scientific origin and the artistic use of concrete architecture. In the 2019 exam, science and the humanities was mixed in a text about the differing viewpoints of Eastern and Western philosophers regarding the universe.
This category consists of texts from five categories: classical poetries such as Hyangga, Sijo, Gasa and Goryeo Gayo, classical novels and prose, contemporary poetry, contemporary novels and play and essays. Candidates may be asked to summarise a single passage or outline a common theme between multiple texts (sometimes of different text types), among many other question types.
Elective subjects
Speech and writing
This category consists of 11 questions relating to three texts.
Question
Text
Text types
Common questions asked
35-37
Speech
Transcript of a presentation/speech, negotiation, discussion/debate
Speaking style, content, audience response
38-41
Combination of speech and writing
One speech text and one writing text
Conversation style, context, possible issues or corrections, problems to add
42-45
Writing
A text written by a student or text outline
Associating the outline with the text, incorporation of various sources, correction, refuting
An additional topic may be used to complete the required five, or two questions are taken from morphology or syntax. Media forms questions 40-45 and relates to the characteristics of media and the creation of an online post or message.
Mathematics
All mathematics candidates take the Maths I and II and select one elective topic from three choices: Calculus, Geometry or Probability and Statistics. Calculus is most preferred by students applying for natural science majors, while Probability and Statistics are preferred by students applying for the humanities. Geometry is the least popular, with only 4.1% of students selecting it as their elective.[9]
Mathematics
Type
Subject
Contents
Base subject
Math I
I. Exponential and logarithmic functions
II. Trigonometric functions
III. Sequences
Math II
I. Limits and continuous functions
II. Differentiation
III. Integration
Elective subject
Calculus
I. Limit of a sequence
II. Methods of differentiation
III. Methods of integration
Probability and Statistics
I. Number of outcomes
II. Probability
III. Statistics
Geometry
I. Conic section
II. Vector on a plane
III. Three-dimensional figures and coordinates
English Language
The English test involves dictation questions from Q1 to 17 and reading questions from Q18 to 45.
The reading questions from 18 to 45 involve topics such as biographies and, philanthropy, graphs and grammar, fixing the correct words, orders of sentences, infer the intentions with sources originating from theses, autobiographies, news articles, academic journals, and EBS textbooks.
The problems are created by selected members who are university professors and high-school teachers and chosen by KICE. Two groups make the problems: one creates them, and the other reviews and revises them.
The creators are primarily professors and high-school teachers review the questions. Both groups sign non-disclosure agreements with the KICE. In 2012, there was a total of 696 staff members involved in creating the problems. A member of the group earns about $300 per day.[10]
In addition to professors, professional practitioners and high school teachers, Educational Civil Officers from the Ministry of Education of Korea, Education Ministries of the provinces of Korea and the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation are also present to review the exams. Onsite are protected by security personnel from the Korean National Police and National Intelligence Service, along with support staff including cooks, medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses.
Hotels and resorts owned by private companies and training centres owned by the Government of Korea in remote places are used for test writers. It is closed to visitors.[6]
High-school graduates and final-year high school students are allowed to sit the test. After the KICE prints test papers and OMR cards, they are distributed three days before the test to each test area. In 2018, there were 85 test areas.
In some cases, students running late for the test may be escorted to their testing site by police officers via motorcycle. Younger students and members of the students' families gather outside testing sites to cheer them on.[5][11] Neither students nor administrators may bring in mobile phones, books, newspapers, food, or any other material which could distract other test-takers.[citation needed]
Middle and high school teachers monitor the test. Most testing rooms are high-school classrooms, and there is a 28-candidate limit in each room. Administrators are warned against doing anything which could distract students in any way such as talking, opening windows, standing in front of a desk, sniffling, or making excessive noise.[12] After the test, the marking of the texts takes about one month.[13]
Except for the English and Korean-history sections, grades are based on a stanine curve. A grade, percentile, and a standardised score for each section and subject are added to the transcript. The standardised score is calculated by the following formula:
and are standard scores. is the standard deviation of the standard score, and is its average. In the national-language and mathematics sections, is 20 and is 100. For the rest, is 10 and is 50. is calculated by the following formula:
is the candidate's original score. is the average of the original candidate scores. is the candidate's standard deviation.
Preliminary College Scholastic Ability Test
The Preliminary College Scholastic Ability Test (PCSAT) is administered nationally. The relationship between PCSAT and CSAT is comparable to that between the PSAT and the SAT in the United States. The PCSAT is divided into two categories: the National United Achievement Tests (NUAT) and the College Scholastic Ability Test Simulation (CSAT Simulation). These tests are more similar to the CSAT than privately administered mock tests, since the PCSAT's examiner committee is similar to that of the CSAT. The CSAT Simulation is hosted by the same institution as the CSAT, and is used to predict the level of difficulty or types of questions which might appear on that year's CSAT.
Although the NUAT and the CSAT Simulation are similar to the CSAT in their number of candidates, types of questions and relative difficulty, the NUAT is hosted by the Ministry of Education for high-school students. The CSAT Simulation is run by KICE and may be taken by anyone who is eligible for the CSAT. Both exams are reliable, official mock tests for the CSAT, and both are graded by the KICE.
National United Achievement Test
The National United Achievement Test (NUAT, Korean:전국연합학력평가[14];Hanja:全國聯合學力評價) is administered in the same way as the CSAT, and was introduced in 2002 to relieve dependence on private mock tests. High-school students may apply to take the test, and local education offices decide whether it will be administered in their districts. Every office of education in South Korea normally participates in the NUAT to prepare students for the CSAT, and the number of applicants parallels the CSAT. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education,[15]Busan Metropolitan Office of Education[16] (freshmen and sophomores), Gyeonggi-do Office of Education,[17] and Incheon Office of Education[18] take turns creating the questions, and the KICE grades the test and issues report cards.
The basic structure of the exam is identical to the CSAT. For mathematics, social studies, science and second language, its range is determined by when it is conducted.[a][19] In the Korean and English sections, the questions are not directly from textbooks but are constructed in accordance with the curriculum.
As of 2014, there are four NUATs per year; it is not the same for every district, however, and some have only two exams per year for freshmen and sophomores. The NUAT for freshmen and sophomores is held in March, June, September and November; seniors are tested in March, April, July and October to avoid conflict with June and September, when the CSAT Simulation is given.
Administering institutions
March: Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (seniors; freshmen and sophomores, 2006–2009, 2014), Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores, 2010–2013)
April: Gyeonggi-do Office of Education (seniors, since 2003)
June: Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores, 2014), Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores 2002–2004, 2010–2013; seniors 2002), Incheon Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores 2005–2009)
July: Incheon Office of Education (seniors since 2007), Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (2005)[20]
September: Incheon Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores since 2010), Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores 2004–2008), Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores 2009)
October: Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (seniors)
November: Gyeonggi-do Office of Education (freshmen and sophomores, except 2003)
December: Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (freshmen 2003)[21]
College Scholastic Ability Test Simulation
The College Scholastic Ability Test Simulation (CSAT Simulation, Korean:대학수학능력시험 모의평가[22]) is given by KICE. Unlike the NUAT, anyone who is eligible for the CSAT may also take this test. The CSAT Simulation was introduced after the CSAT failed to set the proper difficulty level in 2001 and 2002.[clarification needed] First implemented in 2002, it was held only in September during its early years. The test has been given twice a year, in June and September, since 2004. It covers everything in the curriculum for the Korean- and second-language sections, and two-thirds of what the CSAT covers for the other sections. The September exam covers everything in every section, like the CSAT. The number of questions and test time per section is identical to the CSAT.
History
Since the liberation of Korea, South Korea has changed its methods of university and college admission from twelve to sixteen times.[23] The policies ranged from allowing colleges to choose students to outlawing hagwons. Parents and students have had difficulty adjusting to the changes.[24] The changes have been cited as evidence of systemic instability and the sensitivity of the admission process to public opinion.[25]
University and college admissions were first left to the universities, and the first CSAT incarnation appeared at the beginning of 1960. The Supreme Council for National Reconstruction established an early CSAT from 1962 to 1963 as a qualification test for students. Due to the small number of students passing the test, colleges soon had a student shortage. The admissions process was criticized as inefficient, and the government scrapped the policy from 1964 to 1968. A similar policy was adopted in 1969 by the Third Republic of Korea, and the new test was the Preliminary College Entrance Examination (대학입학예비고사); it continued, mostly unchanged, until 1981.[24][25][26] That year, the policy was significantly changed. The test name was changed to Preliminary College Preparations Examination (대학예비고사), and hagwons (cram schools) were outlawed. In 1982, the test name was changed again to College Entrance Strength Test (대입학력고사).[24][25]
In the 1990s, there was a rumour that if students had the S-shaped emblem, they could go to a prestigious university (Seoul National University), and if they had the letter III, they could get a score of 300 on the CSAT, which led to the Onata incident in which test takers secretly removed the Sonata III emblem. There were many Sonata IIIs with the letters S and III missing from the emblem[27] and for this reason, Hyundai Motors implemented a free emblem replacement service.[28]
The current CSAT system was established in 1993, and has undergone several revisions since then.[2][13] In 2004, the government of South Korea introduced a 2008 College Admissions Change Proposal; however, it failed to bring about significant changes.[24] In 2020, the exam was postponed to the first Thursday in December (December 3) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Korean Education Ministry is planning to remove "killer questions" from the Suneung in 2024 after a failed attempt to do so in 2023, citing an excessive reliance on private education and academic pressure.[29]
Reception
Pressure to perform well on the CSAT has been linked to psychological stress, depression and suicide.[30][31] The highly competitive exam has also cited as a contributing factor to South Korea's declining birth rate, as parents often pay for expensive hagwon cram schools to help their children study.[6] Critics say this prevalence of cram schools gives students from wealthier families an advantage, and that the test detracts from students' education with its emphasis on rote memorization and topics that are distinct from the curriculum followed in schools.[32] In 2023, the average amount per month spent on private education per student rose to a record high of ₩434,000 (US$300), with 78.5% of students participating in private education. The average student spent 7.3 hours each week in private education.[33]
Considered one of the most important days of a South Korean's life due to its role in determining which university a student gains admission to, the excessive reliance on the Suneung as a means of determining a student's future has also been criticised. Despite this, the test has been noted for its efficiency, emphasis on merit and educational outcomes.[34]
↑ As of 2013, mathematics, social studies and science section on March exams covers the previous year's curriculum for freshmen and sophomores; in other months, the exams normally follows the curriculum. For freshmen, there are ethics, Korean history, geography, and general social studies in the social-studies section; physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science in the science section. The categories are the same for sophomores only on the March exam. After March, social studies include all subjects: geography of Korea, world geography, East Asian history, world history, law and politics, economics, society and culture, life and ethics, and ethics and thought; the science section covers level I subjects (Physics I, Chemistry I, Biology I, and Earth Science I).
↑ "인천시교육청 학력평가 자료실". Incheon Office of Education. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
↑ As of 2014, the Career Exploration and Second Language sections are tested only in the year's last exam: the November exam for sophomores and the October exam for seniors. The Career Exploration section covers every subject, and the Second Language section covers German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian.
↑ The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education temporarily took charge of testing in 2005, and it was taken over by the Incheon Office of Education in 2007.
↑ It was a special occasion to take the exam in December instead of November. Sophomores took the NUAT prepared by KICE.
↑ "[재미 톡톡] 수능 미신·선물 이야기… 수능철마다 도로에 등장한 '오나타' 아시나요?"[[Fun Talk] College Scholastic Ability Test superstitions and gift stories... Do you know 'Onata' that appears on the roads every college entrance exam season?]. Chunji Ilbo. November 13, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
↑ The Psychological Well-being of East Asian Youth. V 2. Quality of Life in Asia. Yi, Chin-Chun. Academic Achievement-Oriented Society and Its Relationship to the Psychological Well-Being of Korean Adolescents. 2013-01-01. A Ahn, Sun-Young. Baek, Hye-Jeong. P 265-279
↑ Liang Choon Wang, The Deadly Effect of High-Stakes Testing on Teenagers with Reference-Dependent Preferences, Archived October 4, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
↑ "The One-shot Society". The Economist Limited Newspaper 2013. December 17, 2011. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
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