2% of Successful Applicants to Top 10 Universities Are Qualification Exam Graduates... Highest in 10 Years

824 Qualification Exam Passers This Year
Seoul National University: 55, Yonsei University: 113, Korea University: 77, and More

The number of students admitted to the top 10 universities in South Korea through the qualification exam pathway reached its highest level in the past 10 years.

According to an analysis by Jongno Academy of the university public information disclosure data released on the 26th, the number of successful qualification exam candidates admitted to the top 10 universities for the 2026 academic year—Kyung Hee University, Korea University, Sogang University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, Ewha Womans University, Chung-Ang University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and Hanyang University—was 824, the highest in the past decade.

On the morning of the 13th, when the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) was held, test-takers were preparing for the exam at the testing site set up at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. 251113. Photo by Joint Press Pool

Of these, Kyung Hee University had the highest number at 142, followed by Yonsei University (113), Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (93), and Hanyang University (78). Korea University and Chung-Ang University each had 77, Sungkyunkwan University had 76, Ewha Womans University 67, Seoul National University 55, and Sogang University 46.

The proportion of qualification exam graduates among the total number of newly admitted students at these universities was 2%, also the highest in the last 10 years. In the previous 2025 academic year, the proportion was 1.9%.

Yonsei University had the highest proportion at 2.5%, followed by Kyung Hee University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (2.3%), Sogang University (2.2%), and Hanyang University (2.1%). Chung-Ang University and Ewha Womans University each recorded 1.8%, while Sungkyunkwan University posted 1.6%. Seoul National University and Korea University both had the lowest at 1.4%, but the number of qualification exam-based admissions at Seoul National University this year—55—was nevertheless the highest in the past 10 years.

The number of qualification exam candidates taking the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) also increased. For the 2026 academic year, 22,355 qualification exam graduates registered for the CSAT, accounting for 4.0% of all applicants, again the highest figure in the past decade.

Im Seongho, CEO of Jongno Academy, stated, "As the number of qualification exam candidates taking the CSAT rises, it is estimated that there will also be an increase in qualification exam graduates who achieve high scores on the CSAT. Since qualification exam graduates do not have a student record, they likely chose college admission through the regular admission process based on CSAT scores."

He added, "With the five-level school grade system, credit-based high school curriculum, and an increasing emphasis on school records in college admissions all coinciding, there is a possibility that after the 2028 academic year, the trend of qualification exam admissions to major universities may change significantly from what we see today."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.