Five-year low in study discontinuation among first-year students at specialized-purpose and autonomous private high schools

[Financial News] Last year, 189 first-year students at schools for the gifted, specialized-purpose high schools and nationwide autonomous private high schools discontinued their studies—the lowest number in the past five years. This was a 22.5% decrease from the previous year.
On the 15th, an analysis by Jongro Academy of data published on School Info found that 189 first-year students at 73 schools for the gifted, specialized-purpose high schools and nationwide autonomous private high schools discontinued their studies in 2025. That was 55 fewer than the 244 recorded in 2024. The number peaked at 284 in 2023 and has fallen for two consecutive years since. Korea Science Academy of KAIST was excluded because it had no published data.
By school type, the number of students who discontinued their studies at foreign language high schools fell by 25, from 141 in 2024 to 116 last year. The figure for international high schools dropped from 31 to 15, and that for science high schools from 24 to 13. Nationwide autonomous private high schools also saw a decline, from 47 to 43.
By contrast, the number of first-year students who discontinued their studies at 22 regional autonomous private high schools rose by 25, from 131 in 2024 to 156 last year. The increase was 19.1%.
The number of first-year students who transferred to other schools also declined. At 95 schools nationwide, including regional autonomous private high schools, transfers fell by 88, from 802 in 2024 to 714 last year. The decrease was 11.0%, the smallest in the past five years.
Lim Seong-ho, head of Jongro Academy, said that the lower academic pressure resulting from the shift from a nine-tier to a five-level school grading system, together with differences in curricula stemming from the introduction of the high school credit system, may have influenced students’ choice of school. He explained that the perception that the curricula at specialized-purpose and nationwide autonomous private high schools could be advantageous in student-record evaluations for rolling admissions may also have played a role.
However, these statistics alone are not enough to conclude that the five-level school grading system or reforms to the high school credit system directly caused the declines in study discontinuation and transfers. 

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter