56 Teachers in South Korea Investigated for Selling and Reproducing CSAT Questions and Mock Exams

An audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection has revealed that active teachers have been systematically buying and selling anticipated test questions for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and school exams from private educational institutions.

On the 11th, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested the National Police Agency to investigate 56 people, including teachers and academy officials, on charges of violating the Act on Prohibition of Unfair Solicitation and Graft, obstruction of business, and embezzlement.

They are accused of hiding their transactions with private educational institutions and either participating as CSAT question setters or selling questions to private education institutions for use in school exams.

Of the 56 people, 27 were active teachers, in addition to one university professor, four employees of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, one former admissions officer, and 23 related to private educational institutions.

It was commonplace for teachers with experience in setting CSAT questions to systematically sell anticipated CSAT and school exam questions to private education institutions and receive large sums of money in return.

Last year, during the 2024 CSAT, there were suspicions that question 23 of the English section was leaked as it was identical to a question from a private academy’s mock exam, leading to speculation of actual collusion.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, a teacher with CSAT review committee experience formed a so-called Question Supply Organization with eight teachers who had experience in review and question setting, and from 2019 to May 2023, they produced and supplied over 2000 questions to private educational institutions.

The teacher in question received a whopping 660 million won (approx. $550,000), distributing 390 million won (approx. USD 325,000) to the participating teachers, and kept the remaining 270 million won (approx. $225,000) for themselves.

A high school teacher along with two other teachers, produced and supplied over 2000 questions and received 320 million won (approx. $267,000).

Another high school teacher made and supplied over 1200 mock exam questions and auxiliary teaching materials for CSAT prep to private educational institutions from 2019 to 2022, receiving 180 million won (approx. USD 150,000), and even received some of this money in his mother’s bank account to avoid an increase in income tax.

The Ministry of Education released a press release concerning the Check on the Actual Service of Teachers and Others, Participation in the Private Education Market disclosed by the Board of Audit and Inspection, stating, “We plan to strictly and swiftly carry out measures such as disciplinary action requests against the teachers involved.”

Last December, the Ministry of Education created the ‘Teacher’s Concurrent Employment Permission Guidelines’ to prevent active teachers from engaging in profitable activities related to private educational institutions.

Accordingly, if a teacher engages in private education work without permission, it can be treated as an intentional violation of the law or gross negligence, leading to a maximum penalty of dismissal.