This year’s college entrance exams are expected to see a record-high number of gap-year students, reaching 100,000. This is attributed to it being the final exam before changes to the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and internal assessment system, prompting a surge in students retaking exams.
On the 2nd, Jongno Academy projected that the number of gap-year students in the 2027 academic year admissions would surpass last year’s figure of 92,390, hitting 100,000. Gap-year students refer to those who take a leave of absence from their current university and retake college entrance exams. Since these students typically take a leave in the second semester, the industry estimates their numbers by subtracting the number of graduates who registered for the June mock exam from the total number of graduates who registered for the CSAT.
The number of gap-year students remained in the 70,000 range until the 2020 academic year. It then increased to 80,004 in 2021, 82,006 in 2022, 81,116 in 2023, 89,642 in 2024, and reached a record high of 93,195 in 2025. This surge was largely influenced by a significant increase in medical school admissions at the time.
The forecast that this year’s gap-year students will set a new record stems from changes to the CSAT system set to take effect next year. In the 2028 academic year CSAT, which second-year high school students this year will take, elective subjects will be eliminated, and all examinees must take Integrated Society and Integrated Science. For graduates, this year is the last chance to take a familiar version of the CSAT.
Additionally, the increase in medical school admissions is expected to contribute to the rise in gap-year students. Under the government’s medical school expansion policy, admissions increased by approximately 1,500 in the 2025 academic year. However, due to opposition from the medical community, no increase occurred in 2026, and this year’s admissions will rise by 490. The difficulty of last year’s CSAT, which prevented many students from entering their desired universities, is also expected to boost the number of gap-year students this year.
This year also marks the final college entrance exam where students under the ‘9-grade internal assessment system’ will compete solely among themselves. Current third-year high school students are graded on a 9-grade scale (top 4% in grade 1), but second-year students and below will follow a ‘5-grade system’ (top 10% in grade 1). Universities will decide how to reflect both 5-grade and 9-grade internal assessment scores in the 2028 academic year admissions and are expected to announce their decisions in April. A source from Jongno Academy stated, “Students who received a grade 1 under the 9-grade system believe they will be at a disadvantage unless they score higher than those in grade 1 under the 5-grade system, leading many to aim to conclude their admissions process this year.”