The National Education Commission will gather public opinion on switching the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) to absolute grading and introducing short-answer and essay-type questions.
The commission said this in a report on the afternoon of Aug. 5 at the Blue House state guesthouse on the "second-half 2026 work plan." The commission plans to announce by October the deadline for the "2028–2037 National Education Development Plan," which includes a revamp of the college admissions system. Because the admissions system has a large ripple effect on schools, the plan is to collect feedback and finalize it in March next year.
The commission's special committee on college admissions is reviewing expanding the absolute grading system—currently applied only to English and Korean history—to all subjects, including Korean language, math, and inquiry. Under relative grading, only those in the top 4% receive the top grade, but with absolute grading, all test-takers who score above a set threshold receive the same grade. The special committee is also reviewing introducing short-answer and essay-type items to the CSAT.
The commission has decided to switch school records to absolute grading. Currently, 10th and 11th grades use a five-grade relative system, while 12th grade uses a nine-grade relative system. The commission plans to change all of them to absolute grading going forward.
The commission said anyone can submit opinions through the "Public Opinion Platform." It also said that if additional input is needed, it will form a representative public participation group and draw conclusions through discussions.