The Korean Association of Secondary School Head Teachers (Chairman Kwon Hyeok-seon) has proposed adjustments in the difficulty level of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and a reduction in the weight of regular admissions exams based on the analysis of CSAT scores from 2020 to 2025 to identify and address the significant disparities in academic performance between current students and graduates.

"Bomber for Regular Admissions."
This is a common phrase heard in high school classrooms. Students in the 1st and 2nd grades who are not satisfied with their grades in regular school exams often switch to a test-focused entrance strategy centered around the CSAT and say things like this.

"Teacher, I'm going to focus on the CSAT now and go to college through regular admissions."

These students concentrate more on private education than school classes, leading a lifestyle of staying up all night studying at academies and libraries after sleeping in school during the day.

Teachers try to persuade these students by citing the differences between mock exams and the CSAT, as well as numerous cases of failure, but it is not easy to change the strategies that have already been firmly established.

The results of the 2025 CSAT analysis provide insights into the continuation of this reality. This analysis includes the status of test-takers and an analysis based on student, school, and regional backgrounds. In particular, through data on standard scores and grade distributions according to enrollment and graduation status from 2020 to 2025, solutions to issues at school sites were explored.

Korean Language: Graduates have a 2.6 times higher rate of Grade 1 than current students... even lower than those who took the GED exam.

In the Korean language section of the 2025 CSAT, the rate of Grade 1 among current students was 2.9%, while among graduates, it was 7.5%, showing a significant 4.6 percentage point difference. This means that graduates achieved Grade 1 at a rate 2.6 times higher than current students. Moreover, current students were even lower than those who took the GED exam.

Even in Grade 2, graduates had 6.7 percentage points more than current students (2.3 times), and in Grades 3-4, the difference increased to 9.1% and 7.1% respectively, reaching more than 2 times the difference.

In the English section, which is an absolute evaluation subject, the rate of Grade 1 among current students is higher due to the relatively easier difficulty level.

In conclusion, the CSAT-centered entrance structure weakens public education, increases the burden of private education, and exacerbates regional disparities.

The solution is to relax the difficulty level of the CSAT, reduce the weight of regular admissions, and expand the selection ratio of comprehensive student profiles. This will reduce the weight of the CSAT in admissions and establish an enrollment policy centered on current students based on the normalization of public education.

The Korean Association of Secondary School Head Teachers expressed hope that the government would protect the learning rights of current students and structurally improve the issues of CSAT-centered admissions through practical and balanced education policies.