On the 9th, the Jeollanam-do Office of Education announced that, based on the analysis results of the 2025 academic year College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the academic performance of Jeollanam-do students is gradually improving compared to the national average.

In particular, the percentage of students in the lower performance bracket has decreased significantly, confirming the practical results of policies aimed at improving basic academic skills.

The Ministry of Education announced the analysis results of the 2025 CSAT on June 9, about six months earlier than usual.

However, without structural improvements to address regional disparities, the gap in scores between metropolitan areas and rural areas and the strong performance of repeat test takers have repeatedly been revealed, causing distrust and concerns about regional education to grow again.

According to the actual analysis, the average standard scores of students in large cities were 98.6 in Korean and 98.8 in mathematics, while those in rural areas were 92.9 in Korean and 93.6 in mathematics, indicating that the gap still exists.

Jeollanam-do has a high percentage of rural students, with more than 60% of all high schools located in rural areas.

Nevertheless, when comparing the college entrance exam scores of the 2021 academic year and the 2025 academic year with the national average, Jeollanam-do showed overall positive changes in academic performance.

In Korean language, the lower-performing group decreased by 6.9 percentage points, while the higher-performing group improved by 0.5 percentage points. In mathematics, the lower-performing group decreased by 5.3 percentage points.

English also showed a stable trend, with the lower-performing group decreasing by 0.5 percentage points and the higher-performing group improving by 1.0 percentage points.

These changes show that the Jeollanam-do Office of Education's efforts to reduce educational disparities and strengthen basic academic skills are bearing fruit.

In particular, the stable performance in Korean language and the increase in the percentage of students in the top bracket are interpreted as the result of the Jeollanam-do Office of Education's policy of improving classes with a focus on reading and humanities, which has been a priority.

Earlier, Kim Dae-jung, the Jeollanam-do Education Supervisor, officially requested improvements to the method of disclosing college entrance exam analysis data at the National Association of Provincial Education Supervisors' Conference on March 27, stating that the current method could exacerbate educational inequality between regions.

Kim Dae-jung emphasized, “The current method of disclosing college entrance exam analysis data causes relative deprivation and anxiety among students and parents in rural areas with insufficient educational infrastructure, which could lead to regional population decline. The current ranking-centric disclosure method must be improved.”

[News Source: Jeollanam-do Education Office]