The annual college entrance exam was held nationwide Thursday with the largest number of applicants in seven years due in part to an unusually high birth rate in 2007.
The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), seen as one of the nation's most important academic events, began at 1,310 test centers across the country at 8:40 a.m. and is set to end at 5:45 p.m.
Test-takers arrived at designated centers amid cheers from their juniors, parents and teachers. Police officers were deployed nationwide to help transport students and, in some cases, bring them their lunch boxes from home. And students residing on small islands had traveled to the mainland beforehand as no test centers were set up on islets.
A total of 554,174 people have applied for this year's exam, up 31,504, or 6 percent, from last year and the highest figure since 2018, according to the education ministry.
High school seniors and graduates account for 67.1 percent and 28.9 percent of the total, respectively, it said.
