Jeju CSAT Applicants Decline, but Graduate Applicants Rise by 196 to Five-Year High

【Financial News, Jeju = Jung Yong-bok】 The number of applicants for the College Scholastic Ability Test in Jeju fell from a year earlier, but the number of graduate applicants increased by 196 to the highest level in five years. As the number of current students declined while more graduates returned to compete for university admission, about one in four Jeju CSAT applicants was a graduate.
According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education on the 12th, 7,414 people applied to take the 2027 CSAT in Jeju. That was 99 fewer than last year’s 7,513, a decline of 1.3%.
The decline was concentrated among current students. There were 5,361 current-student applicants, down 280, or 5.0%, from 5,641 last year. Applicants who passed the high school equivalency examination and others also fell by 15, from 287 to 272.
By contrast, the number of graduates rose by 196, or 12.4%, from 1,585 to 1,781. Graduates accounted for 24.0% of all applicants this year, up 2.9 percentage points from 21.1% last year.
The change is even clearer when viewed over the past five years. The number of graduate applicants in Jeju was 1,475 for the 2023 CSAT, 1,594 for 2024, 1,542 for 2025, and 1,585 for 2026, before rising to 1,781 this year. That is the highest figure in the past five years.
Although total applications fell from last year as current students and graduates moved in opposite directions, the figure remained higher than the 6,756 applicants in 2023, 6,855 in 2024, and 6,962 in 2025.
By region, 5,918 people applied in the Jeju test district: 4,215 current students, 1,493 graduates, and 210 applicants who passed the high school equivalency examination and others. The Seogwipo test district had 1,496 applicants, including 1,146 current students, 288 graduates, and 62 equivalency-examination applicants and others.
The increase in graduate applicants was particularly pronounced in the Jeju test district. The number rose by 177, from 1,316 last year to 1,493, while the Seogwipo test district saw an increase of 19, from 269 to 288.
There were also shifts in elective subjects. Among applicants who selected subjects in the inquiry section, 4,796 chose social studies, up 344 from 4,452 last year. Their share of inquiry-section applicants also rose from 60.9% to 66.6%.
In contrast, the number choosing science studies fell by 393, from 1,326 last year to 933 this year. Its share declined from 18.2% to 13.0%. The number of applicants who selected both social studies and science studies remained unchanged at 913.
There was also a shift toward probability and statistics among the mathematics electives. The number choosing probability and statistics rose by 352, from 4,334 last year to 4,686 this year.
The number choosing calculus fell by 414, from 2,380 to 1,966, while geometry declined by 55, from 219 to 164. The composition of elective subjects chosen by Jeju applicants changed considerably in just one year.
In Korean, the number choosing Speech and Writing rose by 394, from 5,286 to 5,680, while the number choosing Language and Media fell by 540, from 2,151 to 1,611.
The total number of applicants by subject area was 7,291 for Korean, 6,816 for mathematics, and 7,219 for English. All 7,414 applicants will take Korean history. A total of 7,196 selected inquiry subjects, while 1,018 chose a second foreign language or classical Chinese.
There were 3,729 male applicants, accounting for 50.3%, and 3,685 female applicants, accounting for 49.7%. The gender proportions were the same as last year.
The simultaneous increase in graduate applicants and shifts in elective-subject choices are expected to become variables in the university admissions competition. Graduates compete with current students in the same CSAT and can affect not only regular admissions but also early admissions tracks that apply minimum CSAT requirements.
The 2027 CSAT will be administered nationwide simultaneously from 8:40 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on November 19.


[email protected] Jung Yong-bok Reporter