Uway Apply, the application agency where a system failure occurred just 10 minutes before the deadline for early admission applications for the 2027 academic year, will accept relief applications from affected test-takers starting at 9 a.m. on the 14th.
According to Uway Apply, relief applications will be accepted from 9 a.m. on the day until 6 p.m. on the 16th. Test-takers confirmed as eligible for relief can complete their applications by 10 p.m. on the 16th.
Eligible applicants are those among applicants to 56 universities handled by Uway Apply, whose deadline was 6 p.m. on the 11th, who have system records showing they filled out an application during the time of the system failure or attempted to make a payment.
Specifically, there must be a record of filling out the application during the downtime, such as selecting an admission type or recruitment unit, or a record of attempting to pay for a saved application.
Even if a test-taker filled out an application to a desired university or attempted payment but, after failing to complete submission due to the system failure, was unavoidably forced to apply to another university, they can apply for relief. In this case, they can request a change from the previously applied university to the university they originally intended to apply to.
However, if there is no system record at all showing that an application was in progress during the time of the failure, the applicant is excluded from relief.
Arbitrarily changing the intended recruitment unit is also not allowed. In consideration of fairness with existing applicants, submissions are permitted only for the university, admission type, and recruitment unit verified by system records.
Previously, the early admission application for the 2027 academic year, which was scheduled to close at 6 p.m. on the 11th, was extended until 7 p.m. after a system error occurred about 10 minutes before the deadline.
The Uway system was restored around 6:20 p.m., about 30 minutes after the failure, and additional submissions were accepted for about 40 minutes afterward. The Ministry of Education's analysis estimates that about 1,200 test-takers were unable to complete their applications due to the system failure.
It is understood that simultaneous access by test-takers trying to decide on their universities and departments right before the deadline caused an overload on the system.
The controversy grew as the submission deadline was extended. As some test-takers checked the final competition rates by university during the extended time and submitted additional applications, complaints arose that fairness with test-takers who completed submission before the original deadline had been undermined.
As education authorities move to provide relief for actual victims of the system failure, there is also backlash among test-takers and parents who already completed submission normally, saying they could suffer relative disadvantages.
There is also criticism that, even though the core procedure of college admission application submission was entrusted to private companies, oversight by education authorities was insufficient.
According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission, based on contracts for early admission application submissions for the 2023 academic year, Uway had a market share of 48.4% and Jinhak had 39.0%, while 12.6% had contracts with both companies. As the application function is concentrated in a few companies, voices are calling for stricter management of server capacity, failure response systems, and submission standards in emergency situations.
The Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) plan to investigate the overall application submission system, including the cause of and response to the Uway Apply system failure, and, if necessary, pursue legal responsibility, including referring the matter for investigation.