The college entrance examination for the 2028 academic year that current first-year high school students will take is characterized by all test takers taking the same subjects without elective subjects. Among these, the social and scientific inquiry area will change from a system where a maximum of two subjects can be selected from the current 17 elective subjects to a system where all candidates take 'integrated social studies' and 'integrated science'.
The Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation released sample questions for the Korean language, mathematics, social studies, and science sections of the 2028 college entrance exam on the 15th through their websites (www.kice.re.kr and www.suneung.re.kr). Previously, the Ministry of Education announced 26 sample questions for integrated social studies and science last September, but this is the first time that a question paper in the same format as the actual exam has been released.
The number of questions in the Korean language and mathematics sections remains the same at 45 questions (80 minutes) and 30 questions (100 minutes), respectively. The integrated social studies and science sections have been changed from 20 questions (30 minutes) to 25 questions (40 minutes) per subject.
In the case of integrated social studies, the composition by question type includes 6 ethics questions, 8 general social studies questions, 7 geography questions, and 4 integrated-type questions. Questions that confirm basic concepts are mainly valued at 1.5 points, while questions requiring integrated thinking and interpretation of two or more materials are valued at 2.5 points.
Jongno Academy analyzed, "Many questions reflecting the characteristics of each area have been released, and questions 3 (geography + general social studies), 12 (general social studies + geography), 13 (general social studies + geography), and 23 (geography + history) have come out as integrated types that pursue organic integration between areas."
Question 23 of integrated social studies asks about the Northeast Project conducted in China. This project includes the history of Balhae, and understanding that the region where Balhae was located in the past belongs to a subarctic climate zone is necessary to arrive at the correct answer. The evaluation institute noted, "To solve this type of question, it is necessary to grasp historical issues related to East Asia through various materials and seek solutions by integrating temporal and spatial perspectives."
Integrated science consists of problems suitable for the characteristics of the subject. The scoring scheme has been subdivided from the existing 2 points and 3 points to 1.5 points, 2 points, and 2.5 points.
Jongno Academy assessed, "Questions requiring complex calculations or those that can be solved by simple memorization of formulas have disappeared, and the proportion of questions that require data analysis based on a deep understanding of concepts has increased sharply." It also explained, "High-difficulty questions were mainly created as standalone questions by area rather than integrated types, and the addition of data formats requiring data analysis, which were not previously well presented, is a notable feature."
The Korean language section has produced sample questions at a moderate level, excluding 'killer questions' (extremely difficult questions). 'Speech and language' were composed of problems that can be solved faithfully with basic concept learning without significant changes compared to the current college entrance exam, while 'reading and writing' and 'literature' also maintained the scope and difficulty of the current college entrance exam.
Mathematics also excludes extremely difficult questions, and the entrance exam industry anticipates that the trends observed in the current exam will continue, given that the 2015 revised curriculum and the 2022 revised curriculum are the same. However, it has been analyzed that there is a need for thorough learning of the 'fill-in-the-blank reasoning' questions that were not presented from the 2023 academic year's college entrance exam.
The evaluation institute explained, "The scope of the mathematics section includes 'algebra', 'calculus I', and 'probability and statistics', and due to the hierarchical and interconnected nature of the subjects, the content of the common subjects 'common mathematics 1' and 'common mathematics 2', which are outside the range of examination, are indirectly included in the range of examination."