Killing ‘killer questions’ kills students again

The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) for the school year of 2024, taken last month, produced just one perfect score in all subjects, making it the all-time toughest version since 2022. In the standardized test scores which reflect the level of difficulty in optional subjects, the two students who got one questions wrong in Life Science II became the top scorers among hundreds of thousands. Both of those students were taking the CSAT for the second time and had studied at famous cram academies in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. The results only bolstered the reputations of the region’s private academies.

Test-takers found this year’s test extremely difficult. The highest standard score on the Korean language section, which is graded on a curve, was at 150, a whopping 16 points higher than it was on the last test. The highest standard math score was also three points higher at 148. On the English section, which is based on absolute evaluation, less than five percent received a score of 90 or higher, raising questions as to the purpose of the Ministry of Education’s shift to grading on absolute system from a relative scale, allegedly to reduce students’ reliance on private education.

The government’s sudden decision to ban so-called “killer questions’ sent the wrong signal. The test became difficult to predict after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s order in June to remove overly difficult questions. Many students would not have expected the test to be so difficult. The mock tests in June and September helped little to predict the real test’s demands.

A difficult CSAT can only deepen reliance on private education. The education ministry prided itself on its ability to keep up its differentiation function without killer questions. The elimination of hard questions was meant to lessen dependence on private study. But after this year’s stunning CSAT results, applicants are again flocking to famous cram schools in Gangnam. The government must examine where it has failed to meeting its goal of containing reliance on private education.

Both an overly difficult and overly easy CSAT confuse students. The government must make the test and its set of questions more reliable and predictable. It must not suddenly change direction just a few months before the test, as happened earlier this year. Reckless amendments are detrimental. Hasty revisions to guidelines can only increase test-takers’ reliance on cram schools. Demand for private education can subside only when education authorities earn faith from both students and parents.