The Ministry of Education said on the 6th that "there is no basis to conclude that the number of students who withdraw and re-enroll the following year to reset their transcripts has increased after the five-level grading system was introduced."
The Ministry of Education released a press reference the same day, saying, "It appears that decisions to withdraw are influenced by multiple factors, including difficulties in school life due to interpersonal and psychological or emotional factors, going abroad, and illness," and presented this position.
Earlier, in 2024 (the 2025 academic year), the transcript system changed from a nine-level scale to a five-level scale. The share for level 1 was also expanded from the top 4% to 10%. Because of this, schools say that if a student receives even a level 2 in one subject, it has become difficult to enter a university in Seoul, and competition to secure level 1 has grown more intense to achieve top scores. Media reports said more students were withdrawing to "reset" their transcripts and then re-enrolling if they received even slightly lower grades.
In response, the Ministry of Education said first-year withdrawals at general high schools had been steadily increasing even before the five-level system was introduced. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of first-year withdrawals at general high schools rose to 1,768 in the 2022 academic year and 1,493 in the 2023 academic year, before the five-level transcript system was introduced. In the 2024 academic year, the number fell by 27, and in the 2025 academic year, when the five-level transcript system was introduced, it increased by 660. The Ministry of Education said, "The number of withdrawals in the 2025 academic year did not increase meaningfully compared with previous years."
The number of students who stopped studying in the 2025 academic year and newly enrolled in the 2026 academic year is 1,225. That is 75 more than last year (1,150). The Ministry of Education said, "(The number of new enrollees) can be seen as unchanged at a level similar to the previous year."
The Ministry of Education also said withdrawals among top-performing students did not increase after the five-level transcript system. The average grade for first-year high school students who withdrew in the 2025 academic year is 3.7. Converted to the nine-level scale, that is 6.7. The average grades for first-year high school students who withdrew in the 2023 and 2024 academic years, before the five-level transcript system, are 6.2 and 6.3, respectively.
The Ministry of Education said, "If anything, among first-year high school students who withdrew in the 2025 academic year, there are more lower-grade students," adding, "The notion that 'if you do not get level 1 in all subjects, entering a university in Seoul is difficult' is nothing more than fear marketing by private education institutions."