The math section, the second session of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test, was analyzed to have strengthened discrimination among top scorers compared with last year's CSAT. The most difficult questions were cited as No. 22 in Math I and No. 21 in Math II from the common subjects.

Sim Ju-seok, an EBS math instructor and a teacher at Incheon Haneul High School, said at a briefing on trends in the 2026 CSAT math section held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 13th, "There were questions in the common subjects Math I and Math II that required comprehensive thinking, so some may have found them somewhat tricky," but added, "Overall, it appears the questions were set similarly to last year's CSAT."

On the morning of the 13th, examinees prepare to begin the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test at Yeonje High School, Test Site No. 15 in District 22 of the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education in Yeonje-gu, Busan. /Courtesy of News1

Regarding the "strengthened discrimination," Teacher Sim explained, "Rather than an increase in the number of discriminating questions, the set included items that further strengthened discrimination between the top and the very top scorers."

As representative examples, Teacher Sim pointed to Question 22 in Math I and Question 21 in Math II. Sim said, "In particular, No. 21, which asks about the limit of a function, would have been the most difficult in this CSAT," adding, "However, it is a question that can be solved if a deep understanding of concepts underpins one's work, rather than techniques learned in private education." Among elective subjects, No. 30 in "Probability and Statistics," No. 30 in "Calculus," and No. 30 in "Geometry" were analyzed to have likely been tricky.

The EBS linkage rate for the math section was 50% (15 out of 30 questions). The questions linked to EBS were ▲Math I Nos. 3, 6, 8, 14, 16, 20 ▲Math II Nos. 5, 7, 9, 13, 17, 19 ▲Probability and Statistics Nos. 25, 26, 27 ▲Calculus Nos. 25, 26, 27 ▲Geometry Nos. 26, 27, 29.

Teacher Sim said, "So-called 'killer questions'—such as those that demand excessive calculation or induce mistakes through unnecessary concepts, favor students who have learned problem-solving techniques in private education and trained repetitively, deal with content not covered in the public education curriculum, or take excessively long to solve—were not included."

Meanwhile, the admissions industry assessed that this year's CSAT was somewhat more difficult than last year's. Jongno Academy said, "It was set somewhat more difficult than the September mock test and last year's main CSAT," and, like EBS, cited the common-subject Nos. 21 and 22, Calculus No. 30, Probability and Statistics No. 30, and Geometry No. 30 as difficult questions. Etoos Edu said, "Calculus No. 30 involved quite a lot of calculation, so it appears the solution would have taken a lot of time."

◇ Below are Math I No. 22 and Math II No. 21, identified by EBS as the most difficult questions

2026 College Scholastic Ability Test Math I Question 22 and Math II Question 21. /Courtesy of Reporter Park So-jung

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