An analysis has emerged that in the regular admission process for major universities in the Seoul area for the 2025 academic year, the humanities division was determined by mathematics and inquiry, while the natural sciences division was decided by Korean language and inquiry.
Jongno Academy announced that on the 3rd, it investigated 750 departments at 21 major universities in the Seoul area, including Yonsei University and Korea University, through the college admission information portal 'Where to Go,' resulting in these findings.
In the recent college entrance exam, 55.9% of the humanities division's passing score in mathematics was below grade 3, while for inquiry it was revealed as 55.5%. This indicates that students found mathematics and inquiry difficult, resulting in relatively low passing scores.
Among natural science departments, 51.2% had their inquiry passing scores formed below grade 3, while for Korean language, it was 45.2%.
On the other hand, the percentage of departments with a passing score of grade 1 in mathematics was 6.5% for the humanities division, while for the natural sciences it was 44.7%, showing a difference of about seven times.
Jongno Academy noted, 'Considering the passing scores for the 2025 academic year, both the humanities and natural sciences divisions show that the inquiry subjects have significant differentiating power, and in the 2026 academic year, inquiry subjects will also emerge as a major variable in the college entrance exam.' They added, 'There is a need to focus more on inquiry subjects during the remaining period until the exam.'