Students across Korea begin CSAT test — in pictures

Support banners for students taking the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) are hung at Gangil Girls' High School in Gangneung, Gangwon, on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

 
The annual College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) kicked off across Korea on Thursday morning, with test-takers making their way to their assigned venues through the early winter chill.
 
The scene was familiar: family members and teachers embraced test-takers with words of encouragement, applicants hurried to find their seats, cheer squads handed out snacks and shouted support — and as usual, there were test-takers who hopped into police cars after arriving at the wrong test site, hoping to be swiftly escorted to the right one.
 

On Nov. 13, the day of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a cheer squad hold up posters to encourage test takers outside Daesung High School in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, designated as a test site under the North Chungcheong Office of Education. [YONHAP]

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Some 550,000 examinees were set to be in their seats by 8:10 a.m. at 1,310 test sites.
 
The state-administered exam consists of four core subjects — Korean, mathematics, English and Korean history — along with optional sections in science, social studies and foreign languages.
 
The test officially began at 8:40 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 5:45 p.m. 
 

A test-taker runs to Ewha Girls' Foreign Language High School in Jung District, central Seoul, for the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

A teacher at Gangil Girls' High School in Gangneung, Gangwon, hugs a student before entering the building to take the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

A mother, right, cheers for her daughter, who takes the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) at Ewha Girls' Foreign Language High School in Jung District, central Seoul, on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

A poster wishing test takers good luck for the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) is hung at Sokcho High School in Sokcho, Gangwon, on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

On the day of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a test taker who mistook the exam site heads toward a police car in front of Jeonju University High School in Jeonju, North Jeolla, on Nov. 13. [NEWS1]

A police officer delivers the lunch box of a 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) applicant at Dongdaejeon High School in Daejeon on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

A cheer squad roots for test takers of the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) outside Daesung High School in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]