College Scholastic Ability Test for the 2026 school year. Joint photo reporting group
The Ministry of Education announced on the 8th that, regarding the English section that failed to control difficulty in the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), “We intend to conduct a general investigation into the cause, measures, and improvements.”
The Ministry of Education said in a separate information material this afternoon, “The investigation is scheduled for sometime in December and we are currently in the process of establishing an investigation plan, so it is difficult to disclose other details.”
Regarding whether there were any cases in the past when the CSAT was investigated regarding the difficulty of specific subjects, he explained, “Usually, after the CSAT is over, we have inspected overall matters such as test questions and implementation through office inspections, etc.”
Regarding the use of CSAT fingerprints for foreign copyrighted works, he added, “We understand that the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation will handle foreign copyrighted works in accordance with related procedures.”
At a regular briefing this morning, Ministry of Education spokesperson Jeong Byeong-ik was asked, “Does the Ministry of Education have the authority to investigate the Evaluation Institute, which is under the Prime Minister’s Office?” and responded, “Currently, the CSAT is entrusted (to the Ministry of Education) to the Evaluation Institute, so I think it can be investigated.”
Previously, in response to criticism that English was made too difficult, the Ministry of Education announced on the 5th, “We will immediately conduct a thorough investigation into the entire CSAT test preparation and review process and take strict action based on the results of the investigation.”
In this year’s CSAT, English was the most difficult question since 2018, when absolute evaluation was introduced, with 3.11% receiving grade 1. The 2024 school year even broke the record of 4.71%.
In particular, it was pointed out that the evaluation board failed to control the level of difficulty because the percentage was low compared to relative evaluation subjects that receive a grade 1 if it falls within 4%.
