PSAT to Be Administered as a Separate Qualification Test Next Year, Replacing the First Round of Grade 5 and 7 Civil Service Exams

[Financial News] Starting next year, the Public Service Aptitude Test (PSAT) will be administered as a separate qualification test, independent of the national civil service recruitment exam. Test-takers will be able to use scores earned in advance for the first round of various public-sector recruitment exams, including the national civil service Grade 5 open recruitment exam and the national and local civil service Grade 7 open recruitment exams.
The test will be divided into 'advanced' and 'basic' levels and held in February and July, respectively. Differential scoring, which gives different points based on question difficulty, will also be introduced for the first time.
The Ministry of Personnel Management said on the 27th that it had finalized the '2027 PSAT Operation Plan.' The PSAT is an exam that assesses core competencies needed for public service, such as logic, analysis and judgment.
From next year, the PSAT, which had been administered as the first round of each recruitment exam, will be separated into an independent qualification test and used jointly across the public sector. Test-takers will obtain a PSAT score first and then submit a separate application for the recruitment exam they wish to take.
The exam will be divided into advanced and basic levels depending on the required level of job competency. The advanced level will be used for the national civil service Grade 5 open recruitment exam, the Foreign Service Candidate Selection Exam and the Supreme Court Administrative Higher Civil Service Exam. Applications will be accepted in January next year, and the exam will be held in February.
The basic level will be used for the national and local civil service Grade 7 open recruitment exams and the consolidated recruitment exam for private-sector experienced hires at Grades 5 and 7. Applications will be accepted in May, and the exam will be held in July. As a result, applicants who use the same type of PSAT score for multiple recruitment exams will not need to retake the PSAT for each exam.
Differential scoring, which assigns different points by question, will also be introduced for the first time. Until now, all questions carried the same weight, but starting next year, questions at the highest and lowest difficulty levels will each make up about 15% of the total, and scores will vary by question to better assess problem-solving ability.
PSAT score certificates can be issued online through Government24. The ministry plans to announce the '2027 PSAT Implementation Plan,' which will include details such as the release of questions and answers and the score announcement schedule, through the National Civil Service Recruitment System in November.

[email protected] Lee Bomi Reporter