“Release Students` Standings in College Entrance Exam”

The Seoul Administrative Court has ordered the government to release the results of the College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT) taken by students.

The same ruling rendered by a higher court could have tremendous effects on the results of the college entrance exam, the way the test is taken, and choices that students make.

The Seoul Administrative Court made the ruling Tuesday in favor of six plaintiffs who had filed a lawsuit against the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), which administers the examination for high school seniors wanting to enter higher educational institutions. The six students demanded that the KICE release the results of the CSAT.

“The KICE policy not to release students` standings does little to reduce negative effects of the college entrance exam based on the total score and to prevent a hierarchy of universities,” the court said in its ruling. “The off-the-record inaccurate information on the test results have caused confusion for students who take the exam in selecting higher education institution,” it added.

The court ordered the testing organization to reveal students` records such as the distribution charts of original test scores and converted scores as well as individual standings as the plaintiffs demanded

The six students filed a complaint against the KICE in December last year, saying that they had troubles choosing a suitable college for them since their test results and standings were not released.

Currently, college aspirants choose a university based on the grades of their test scores (1-9 grades) and the percentage of each subject score.

The testing organization has refused to release the students` standings from 2002 in an effort to avoid a test score-centered college entrance exam and stop further aggravating the quality difference between universities.

A large number of colleges will change the student selection system when individual standings are released, as they had difficulties selecting students without the ranks. They had to adopt the current complicated system since the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) did not allow the release of the test results.

The controversy is expected to heat up, however, as the education ministry and the KICE announced Tuesday that they will go to a higher court, insisting the principle not to reveal the standings.

Seong-Chul Hong Jin-Kyun Kil sungchul@donga.com leon@donga.com