KICE fails to keep level of difficulty in CSAT consistent

“Oh, my god. Hey, it is impossible when they do this,” said Jesse Lingard, who formerly represented England and moved to FC Seoul in the K League 1 this year, after taking a quick look at the text of the Q24 in last year’s CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) English test. Shaking his head in disbelief, he chuckled, saying that the question was really hard. This short footage was uploaded on FC Seoul’s official YouTube channel on Nov. 14, the day before South Korea’s CSAT, also known as Suneung, took place. Many comments followed, saying, “It is a test that even British people find difficult.”

This tricky question, which even struck this English native speechless, is classified as one of the most challenging in last year’s Suneung. Education service company Megastudy referred to the text’s repetitive word choice regarding over-tourism, making it difficult for students to choose the correct answer.

Just five months before last year’s Suneung test, President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered a minimum of “killer” or extremely challenging questions. However, despite the president's particular comments, the test proved to be even more difficult than the previous year’s, particularly in Korean, Math, and English. Later, it was labeled the “toughest CSAT ever.”

Educational experts pointed out the government's attempts to reduce the number of difficult questions, claiming that these efforts have made the test even more difficult for students, increasing confusion right before the college admissions season. Only one student recorded a full score last year.

With education authorities presumably concerned excessively over public criticism, this year’s Suneung was 100 percent different. It had been anticipated that the difficulty level would have to be increased to differentiate applicants with an increasing number of top-tier re-takers aiming for med school following the government’s announcement of more med school quotas. However, it turned out to be less challenging than expected. As many as 11 applicants got a full score in all the subjects. In particular, 1,055 students got all the questions right in the Korean test, 16.5 times higher than last year’s record. The number of perfect scorers in the Math test reached a staggering 1,522 students.

It is no news that the level of difficulty in the CSAT has been controversially inconsistent. Experts in the college entrance exam industry commonly say that a difficult CSAT tends to be followed by an easy one, and vice versa. Such “super-difficult” Suneung tests date back to 20 years or so. The 2002 CSAT is considered one of the very first extremely challenging exams, along with the 1997 CSAT. It was assessed as such a severe failure in controlling the difficulty level that then-President Kim Dae-jung even made an official apology at a cabinet meeting, saying, “I feel sorry about test takers and their parents left shocked by such a tough Suneung test. By contrast, the 2001 CSAT, right before the controversially challenging one, turned out to be one of the easiest in history with 66 applicants getting a full score in all the test subjects. It was met with widespread criticism across the college entrance exam industry, saying, “It completely failed to distinguish applicants.” Apparently, the 2002 CSAT, which was extremely difficult, also resulted from exam makers overreacting to public criticism.

The Education Ministry and the KICE have, since 1994, set a direction in CSAT policy and designed questions. Over the past 30 years, they have repetitively been criticized for failing to ensure a desirable and consistent level of difficulty. Not only extremely difficult exams but also super-easy ones leave students confused. After all, predictability matters in college admissions. The government and KICE should find ways to bring about predictability and stability to the college admissions framework and the level of difficulty in Suneung. The vicious circle of extremely easy and difficult exams is the worst-case scenario for college-bound students.