CSAT results accidently leaked due to mishandling of website

A screen captured image from an online community of test-takers of the College Scholastic Aptitude Test who confirmed their test results earlier than the official announcement scheduled on Wednesday. /Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

The state-run college admission test administrator's poor website management has allowed some test-takers to confirm their test results earlier than the official announcement slated for Wednesday, the education authorities said, Monday.

According to the education ministry and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), which organizes the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a man posted in an online community of test-takers, Sunday, that he could check already his score on the KICE website.

When other community members asked how, he said he only needed to make several simple clicks on the test result search section by changing the year from 2019 to 2020 ― a method which was available for test-takers who took the CSAT the previous year as well.

In a couple of hours, other users also uploaded their test results saying they too confirmed their scores using the tip.

Following the revelation, KICE shut down the test results search section early Monday morning. Later in the day, the ministry admitted there were some management issues on the website and 312 test-takers had been able to access their scores.

“The website of the institute was not hacked, but the results were accidently disclosed to some test-takers while KICE was testing its website ahead of the official announcement day,” said Song Geun-hyun, a director of college admission policy division at the ministry.

For the mishandling of the state-administered examination, the education ministry said it and the institute will take full responsibility.

Song said the education ministry may take legal action against the test-takers who confirmed their exam results if its legal team concludes their activity could constitute obstruction of public work.