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School violence records to impact all college admissions tracks starting 2028

Published: 28 Aug. 2025, 21:57

A parent receives college admissions advice from a counselor at an admissions fair at Seoul City Hall on Aug. 9. [NEWS1]

Starting with the 2028 academic year college admissions cycle — which current first-year high school students will undergo — records of school violence will be reflected in all admissions tracks, including those based on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), essay writing or practical skills.

The Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) announced the finalized basic plan for 2028 college admissions on Thursday. Previously, records of school violence were primarily considered qualitatively or as grounds for point deductions in record-based and comprehensive admissions tracks.

Under the new plan, disciplinary actions related to school violence will also be taken into account for regular admissions, as well as for essay-based and performance-based tracks. Universities must publicly announce their detailed admissions plans — including how they intend to reflect school violence records — by April of next year.

A total of 290 universities, with duplicate counts across categories, will reflect school violence records in their admissions evaluations, according to last year’s plans from the KCUE. Seventy-one will incorporate them into qualitative assessments, 57 will use them to restrict eligibility or disqualify applicants and 236 will include them in hybrid evaluations.

Under the newly announced admissions schedule, the mock CSAT for the 2028 academic year will take place in late August 2027. After mock scores are distributed, universities will begin accepting applications for early admissions on Sept. 20 of the same year.

This means the mock exam — previously held in September — will move up to August, allowing students to apply for early admission with their final mock scores already in hand.

Starting in 2028, applicants applying through special tracks for vocational high schools will be recognized as belonging to a related academic field if they have completed at least 24 credits in relevant subjects.

For special admissions for students from rural areas, a standardized eligibility verification form will be introduced to ease administrative burdens on universities and high schools and reduce the preparation workload for applicants.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-SANG [[email protected]]