CSAT and High School Record Level 1 Ratios Set at Four Percent

On October 27, the Uri Party and the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development held a meeting at which they agreed on a plan to amend the college entrance system from the 2008 academic year onward. The plan details the organization of CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) scores and students’ academic performance as shown in their high school records into nine levels.

The ratio of level 1 students, which had been an issue of contention between the party and the government, has been set at the top four percent for both CSAT scores and high school GPA records, as the government proposed in its initial plan.

Assemblywoman Cho Bae-suk stated during a press briefing on the same day that “the government and the ruling party have agreed to preserve the basic framework of the initial plan for improving the college entrance system, which shifts the focus from the CSAT to the applicant’s high school record.”

The Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development will confirm and announce the new entrance system on October 28. But several parent groups have declared their intention to campaign for the Minister of Education’s removal from office.

As a result of the agreement between the government and the Uri Party, starting in 2008, the CSAT will cover only the regular high school curriculum and scores will be accompanied by levels (1 through 9) instead of percentiles and national standards per subject. Similarly, high school grades will be recorded in raw scores (alongside school-wide averages per subject and standard deviations) and levels according to academic standing (1 through 9), rather than in letter grades.

Assemblywoman Cho added, “We’ve also reached an agreement on expanding the CSAT drafting committee by over 50 percent and adopting a CSAT question bank system from 2010 onward.”

Assemblyman Chung Bong-ju, who advocated broadening the ratio of level 1 students, said, “I maintain that expanding the ratio of level 1 students from four to seven percent is the right thing to do, but I’ve decided to accommodate the ministry’s opinion.”

Seong-Chul Hong sungchul@donga.com