The 2029 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) for current first-year high school students will take place on November 16, 2028. The integrated exam system, which eliminated elective subjects in Korean, mathematics, and inquiry areas, is expected to remain in place for the 2029 exam, following its introduction in 2028.
On August 18, the Ministry of Education announced the details regarding the exam date and subjects for the 2029 CSAT. The results for the 2029 exam will be communicated to students on December 8, 2028.
A key feature of the 2029 CSAT is the continuation of the revised exam format introduced in 2028. Under this system, all students will be evaluated based on the same criteria and content across the Korean, mathematics, social studies, and science inquiry areas, with no elective subjects. Students can choose only one subject from the second foreign language/Chinese characters area out of a total of nine subjects.
All students are required to take the Korean history section, and if they choose social studies and science inquiry, they must take both 'Integrated Social Studies' and 'Integrated Science.'
The exam format will primarily consist of multiple-choice questions with five options, but 30% of the math questions will be short-answer format.
The grading system will remain unchanged. The mandatory subjects, including Korean history, English, and the second foreign language/Chinese characters, will use absolute evaluation, with scores divided into nine grades. In contrast, the remaining subjects, such as Korean, mathematics, and inquiry, will be assessed using relative evaluation, providing standard scores, percentiles, and grades.
Additionally, any student found guilty of exam misconduct will have their results for the 2029 exam invalidated, and they will generally be barred from taking the 2030 exam. However, minor infractions, such as writing answers after the end of the exam, as determined by the Minister of Education, will only result in the invalidation of that year's exam.
Meanwhile, the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, which administers the CSAT, plans to announce the detailed guidelines for the 2029 exam in March 2028.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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