September’s Mock Evaluation Reveals Difficulty in Korean and English Sections of CSAT
By Kim Beom-ju, Reporter
Seoul, October 4, 2023 – The September mock evaluation of the 2024 College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT) has shown a reduction in the difficulty of the notorious killer questions, but has identified the Korean and English sections as relatively challenging.
Amid efforts to ensure higher scores in this year’s college entrance exams, the mathematics section has reportedly become slightly easier, creating a crisis for test-takers who rely on scoring high in this particular subject.
The Korean Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation released the scoring results of the September mock evaluation, which included 374,907 test-takers. Among them were 284,526 students, 90,381 graduates, and qualified applicants.
Like last year, the CSAT will be divided into the ‘ordinary + optional’ structure, with Korean and mathematics being the core subjects. Of the test-takers, 218,233 (58.6%) opted for the Korean language section, while 154,340 (41.4%) chose the language and media section.
Regarding mathematics, 165,731 test-takers (45%) decided to answer probability and statistics questions, 189,093 (51.3%) focused on calculus, while 13,497 (3.7%) tackled geometry problems.
In terms of standard scores, only 135 test-takers achieved the highest score in Korean during the September mock evaluation, significantly lower than the previous year’s CSAT (371) and last June’s mock assessment (1,492). This increased differentiation among top performers in the Korean language section may become a significant factor in the CSAT in November.
The gap between the highest standard scores for the Korean and mathematics sections has also decreased. Last year, the difference was 11 points, with the Korean CSAT score at 134 and mathematics at 145. However, in the September mock evaluation, the difference narrowed to 2 points, with Korean at 142 and mathematics at 144.
The English section, which shifted to an absolute evaluation system in 2018, was noted as the most challenging section. The rate of English level 1 proficiency dropped to 4.37% compared to last year’s CSAT (7.83%). The difficulty stemmed from the requirement of specialized background knowledge, as test-takers faced extensive reading passages that demanded comprehensive thinking skills to select the correct answers.
In mathematics, there was a change in the difficulty level of subjective questions, traditionally known as high-difficulty killer questions, resulting in more test-takers achieving perfect scores. While 934 individuals achieved a perfect score on the CSAT math test last year, the number more than doubled to 2,520 in the September mock assessment.
Furthermore, the gap in the highest standard scores between the Scientific Inquiry I and II sections has decreased. As the number of top-performing test-takers in Science Inquiry II increases, the score gap is expected to further narrow.
Lending insight into the September mock evaluation, Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, mentioned its purpose was to address the wide score discrepancy between the Korean language and mathematics sections from the previous year. He also stressed the emergence of patterns in the evaluation.
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Association | 2023.10.04 06:00
[세종 = 뉴스핌] Reporter Kim Beom-ju = September’s mock evaluation of the 2024 College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT) has reduced the difficulty of the so-called killer questions, but confirmed that the Korean and English sections are relatively difficult.
Some say that a crisis has been put in place to ensure the ability to score high in this year’s college entrance exams, as the maths section which has been difficult until now has become a little easier.
[서울=뉴스핌] Correspondent Photo = High school seniors take the test in the ‘2024 September College Scholarly Ability Test Mock evaluation’ held at Yeouido Girls’ High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 6th. 2023.09.06 photo@newspim.com
The Korean Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation released the September mock evaluation scoring results, including this content, on the 4th. The number of test takers who took the mock assessment in September was 374,907. There were 284,526 students registered, and 90,381 graduates and those who passed the qualification examination.
Like last year, Korean and mathematics will be held under the ‘ordinary + optional’ structure. Looking at the number of test takers by area, the number of test takers who chose to speak and write Korean was 218,233 (58.6%), and the number of test takers who chose language and media was 154,340 (41.4%) .
For math, 165,731 test takers (45%) chose probability and statistics, 189,093 (51.3%) took calculus, and 13,497 (3.7%) took geometry.
The number of test takers who scored the highest based on standard scores in the September mock evaluation was 135 in Korean, a significant decrease compared to the previous year’s CSAT (371) and last June’s mock evaluation (1,492). As the ability to differentiate among the main speakers of the Korean language has greatly expanded, the possibility of it becoming a variable in the CSAT in November has increased.
The gap between the highest standard scores for Korean and mathematics also decreased. The standard Korean CSAT score last year was 134 points and mathematics 145 points, a difference of 11 points, but in the mock evaluation last September, the difference was reduced to 142 points in Korean and 144 points in mathematics, a difference of 2 points.
It was confirmed that the English section was the most difficult since the change to the absolute evaluation system in 2018. The English level 1 rate was 4.37%, a significant reduction compared to last year’s CSAT (7.83%).
English requires specialist background knowledge, so there were no passages that were difficult for test-takers to understand, but analysis shows that test-takers’ scores were not high because many were asked questions that required comprehensive thinking skills after reading the passage to the end and having ‘attractive’ options. .
[서울=뉴스핌] Photo Co-narrator = High school seniors wait for the test to begin at the ‘2024 College Scholastic Aptitude Test September mock evaluation’ held at Yeouido Girls’ High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 6th. 2023.09.06 photo@newspim.com
In mathematics, there has been a change, with the difficulty of the subjective questions (scoring 4 points), which were traditionally asked as high difficulty killer questions, lowered, leading to the appearance of perfect scores at the top. Last year, 934 people got a perfect score on the CSAT math test, but in the mock assessment in September, the number more than doubled to 2,520.
It was also confirmed that the difference in the highest standard scores between Scientific Inquiry I and II areas has decreased. If the number of top test takers taking Science Inquiry II increases, the score gap is expected to narrow further.
Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, said, “The mock evaluation in September reflected the intention to reduce the wide gap in scores between Korean subjects and mathematics last year.” “Patterns also emerge,” he said.
wideopen@newspim.com
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