Agency accepts multiple answers for disputed college exam questions

Educational authorities announced Monday that they have decided to accept multiple answers for two disputed questions on the national college entrance exam for the 2015 school year, a decision that could change scores for thousands of students.

The exam, which is similar to the American Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), is considered to be a crucial factor in determining a student's future career opportunities as Korean society places great importance on educational background. It is only administered once a year.

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) unveiled the outcome of its discussion on the two questions from two different sections ― one from biology II and another from English language ― of the College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CAST).

The KICE's Website was flooded with complaints from students questioning the accuracy of the two questions days after the exam on Nov. 13.

The decision will affect the overall score as the exam is based on a relative grading system that divides all test-takers into nine groups.

Some 640,000 high school seniors and graduates took the nine-hour standardized CSAT that was administrated at 1,216 testing sites across the country. (Yonhap)