Nat’l College entrance exam held nationwide

The national college entrance exam was held nationwide on Thursday, with over 1,300 test sites hosting the largest number of test-takers in seven years. 

This year, some 554,000 students are taking the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) at over 1,300 testing sites nationwide. The number of high-school seniors increased by some 30,000 from last year, as the seniors this year are born in the year of the Golden Pig that saw a higher birth rate.

The number of students retaking the exam declined slightly following the government’s decision to scrap the planned increase in medical school admissions. Overall, with the largest number of CSAT takers in seven years, competition for entering college is expected to be more fierce. On Thursday, government agencies and businesses postponed their opening hours to after 10 a.m., while banks and stock markets opened one hour later than usual.