2029 CSAT set for Nov. 16, 2028, with integrated exam format intact

The College Scholastic Ability Test for the 2029 academic year, which current 10th graders will sit, is scheduled for Nov. 16, 2028. The integrated exam format introduced for the 2028 academic year — eliminating elective subjects in Korean, mathematics and the inquiry domains — will remain in place.

The Ministry of Education announced Tuesday that the 2029 CSAT will be held on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2028, with results released Dec. 8 of that year. The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation plans to publish a detailed implementation plan, including question-setting principles, in March 2028.

The 2029 exam will maintain the integrated format introduced for the 2028 academic year. Elective subjects will be eliminated from Korean language, mathematics, social studies and science inquiry, and vocational inquiry, meaning all test-takers will sit the same content under the same standards. Only the second foreign language and classical Chinese section will retain a choice, with students selecting one of nine subjects including German, French, Chinese and Japanese.

The Korean language section will cover speech and language, reading and writing, and literature, comprising 45 questions to be completed in 80 minutes. The mathematics section will draw 30 questions from algebra, calculus I and probability and statistics, with a 100-minute time limit. Thirty percent of math questions will be short-answer format.

The inquiry domain will also move away from the existing elective structure. Students taking the social studies and science inquiry sections will be required to sit both integrated social studies and integrated science, each consisting of 25 questions over 40 minutes. Scores for the two subjects will be calculated separately.

Score reports will show only grade ratings based on absolute evaluation for English, Korean history, second foreign language and classical Chinese. For the remaining areas — Korean language, mathematics and inquiry — standard scores, percentile ranks and ratings will all be provided. The basic question format is five-choice multiple choice, with short-answer questions included only in the mathematics section.