Fulbright U.S. Education Center

As reported in The Korea Times yesterday, Korean students will have to put up with tougher administration of the SAT test starting in May.  The Educational Testing Service (ETS), the United States organizer of the test, said Sunday that applicants from Korea, Thailand and Vietnam will be barred from using any kind of electronic devices including mobile phones at examination sites from next month.

The test organizer also decided to treat applicants who are over 22 years old separately, regarding them as adult applicants.  Also, only passports will be accepted as identification for those who take the SAT tests outside their homeland.   The reinforcement of test management came after Korean SAT lecturers were apprehended for leaking test questions.

The SAT is administered seven or eight times a year to about 3 million students around the world.

TOEFL, TOEIC and other English test scores will not be used as major elements in the process of admitting students to universities under the admissions officer system.  As reported in The Korea Times, this is part of new guidelines announced by the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE).  The new policy is in line with the government’s move to reduce private tutoring costs and reinvigorate the public school system.  More weight will be given to academic records from high schools, recommendations from teachers, and leadership activities.