The final official mock exam for the 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) began nationwide, providing a glimpse into the exam's direction and difficulty. The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation announced that it has thoroughly excluded so-called 'killer questions' that require problem-solving techniques often practiced in private education, ensuring that students who have studied diligently within the public education curriculum can adequately tackle the exam.
The September mock exam was conducted simultaneously at 2,162 high schools and 574 designated academies across the country starting at 8:40 a.m. The institute emphasized that this exam accurately reflects the content and level of the 2015 revised high school curriculum and focuses on measuring the mathematical skills necessary for higher education.
The core principle of the exam's design is to maintain differentiation within the public education framework. The institute has excluded questions that favor students who have learned mechanical problem-solving techniques in private academies, concentrating instead on assessing understanding of fundamental concepts and logical reasoning developed through school lessons. Even previously covered materials have been restructured in innovative ways to prevent rote memorization.
To alleviate the actual learning burden on students, the exam significantly increased the perceived linkage to EBS materials. Following previously announced implementation plans, the institute actively utilized charts, illustrations, and texts from EBS CSAT textbooks to enhance this linkage. The approach involved indirect linkage, borrowing and transforming key concepts, principles, and arguments rather than directly copying questions.
The linkage rate based on the number of questions per subject area was maintained at around 50%. The Korean language area recorded 53.3%, while the English area reached 55.6%. The mathematics, inquiry (social, science, vocational), and second foreign language/Korean classics areas were set at 50.0%. The linked materials are from the EBS CSAT special lectures and completion textbooks published for this year's third-year high school students.
This exam applied the integrated CSAT system of 'common + elective subjects' introduced in the 2022 academic year. The Korean language, mathematics, and vocational inquiry areas were conducted under a common and elective subject system, while students could choose up to two subjects from 17 options in the social and science inquiry areas without regard to their academic track. The English, Korean history, and second foreign language/Korean classics areas are graded on an absolute scale.
The institute emphasized its commitment to addressing the ongoing controversy regarding the 'advantages and disadvantages of elective subjects' since the introduction of the integrated CSAT. It took special care to balance the difficulty levels to ensure that groups selecting specific subjects do not gain unfair advantages or suffer disadvantages in standard scores.
Admissions experts noted, "This September mock exam serves as a crucial benchmark for assessing the scale and academic level of N-suk students (repeat test-takers) entering the main CSAT, as well as for understanding the trends in CSAT question design. Rather than getting overly concerned with scores, students should thoroughly review the logical structures of the moderately difficult questions that were carefully crafted under the principle of excluding killer questions."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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