By Nam Hyun-woo
College Board, the administer of the U.S. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), said Sunday (KST) that it has cancelled an SAT subject test scheduled for June in Korea due to the continued leaking of questions.
The cancellation of SAT Biology E/M followed the College Board’s earlier announcement that the SAT scheduled for May 5 was canceled for the same reason.
In a statement it said that the Educational Testing Service (ETS), another administer of SAT, “confirmed that some SAT and SAT subject test materials intended for use in the Republic of Korea for May and June have been compromised.”
It said a number of test-takers “recycled” test materials, exploiting the time difference between Korea and other countries.
The company sent e-mails to Korean students registered for the test explaining that they had no choice but to cancel the test to protect the integrity of the test administration process.
“The College Board and ETS investigated every possible alternative, but it was unavailable to create a new SAT within the time or reassign existing test forms,” it said.
Students planning to major in the sciences such as pre-med, pharmacy and veterinary medicine take the subject test.
Educational experts say that the continued cancellations due to cheating may cause American educational testing agencies to label Korea as a country prone to test leaks, which will have a negative impact on students applying for the test.