An analysis found that in this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), test-takers who choose calculus in math and language and media in Korean will have an advantage.
Jongro Academy said on Jan. 9 that an analysis of four education office mock exams held this year and two mock exams by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) predicts that in the 2026 academic year CSAT, standard scores will be set higher for calculus and for language and media.
A standard score shows how far a raw score is from the average. Generally, when the average score is low, the top standard score rises, and when the average score is high, the top standard score falls. It means the more people who do well on the test, the lower the standard scores become.
Looking at the standard scores across all six mock exams this year, the standard score for a perfect scorer in math calculus was higher than for a perfect scorer in probability and statistics. Geometry also had a higher standard score than probability and statistics. According to Jongro Academy, in the education office mock exam on Mar. 3, a test-taker who scored a raw 100 in probability and statistics had a standard score of 149, while a calculus perfect scorer had a standard score of 157.
Since the integrated CSAT was introduced for the 2022 academic year, calculus has posted a standard score higher than probability and statistics by 3 to 11 points without exception. Typically, humanities-track test-takers choose probability and statistics, while natural-sciences-track test-takers choose calculus and geometry.
In Korean, since the integrated CSAT, language and media has had a standard score 1 to 7 points higher than speech and composition across all tests, including education office mock exams (20 times), KICE mock exams (10 times), and the CSAT (four times). In all six mock exams administered this year as well, language and media outpaced speech and composition by 2 to 7 points in standard score.
Jongro Academy CEO Lim Seong-ho said, "High-achieving students who choose calculus and language and media will be very competitive in regular admissions, not only for natural sciences departments but also for humanities departments through cross-application, as well as in no-major tracks that select without distinguishing between humanities and sciences."
Lim added, however, "This year, the number of applicants for calculus fell 15.0% from a year earlier, and for language and media fell 7.4%, so the number of top students in the two subjects may decrease from last year," noting, "The real impact in cross-application or no-major tracks could be lower than last year."