China News Service, September 21. According to Korean media reports, the "Results of Enrollment for Academic Aptitude Test (College Entrance Examination) for the 2021 Academic Year" released by the Korea Educational Curriculum Evaluation Institute on the 21st shows the number of applicants for the college entrance examination to be held on December 3, 2020 It was 493,433 people, a year-on-year decrease of 10.1%, and for the first time in South Korea’s history, the number of applicants for the college entrance examination fell below 500,000.
Since the 2019 school year, the number of Korean college entrance examination applicants has decreased for two consecutive years.
The number of applicants for the 2021 school year is the lowest in South Korea since the implementation of the academic ability test in the 1994 school year, and it is also the first time that it has fallen below 500,000.
It is reported that 346,673 senior high school freshmen applied for the exam, a year-on-year decrease of 12%.
The number of repeat students was 133,069, a year-on-year decrease of 6.5%.
The drop in candidates for this year was greater than that of repeaters. Therefore, repeaters accounted for 27% of the overall candidates, a year-on-year increase of 1.1 percentage points, a record high since the 2004 academic year.
Earlier analysis stated that due to the new crown epidemic, many senior high school students cannot attend classes normally, and their learning effects are weakened, so the advantages of repeat students will be more prominent.
Another industry insider pointed out that due to the decrease in the number of candidates this year, the competition rate for the college entrance examination will decline.
Taking into account the absence of college entrance examinations and other circumstances, the actual proportion of repeat students among the candidates may be close to 30%.