Entrance exam changes in Japan and Korea ‘part of global trend’

As Japan and South Korea gear up to change their university entrance exams, scholars say similar moves are playing out globally.

Both Asian countries are looking to change the format of their national tests in the coming few years, with their results determining where hundreds of thousands of high school graduates will study.

In Japan’s case, the changes, which take effect in 2025, will introduce an IT section into the exam, a move intended to steer the country toward greater technological literacy, helping to satisfy a high demand for computer skills.

In South Korea, meanwhile, a proposal by policymakers suggests amendments to come into effect in 2028, streamlining the country’s high-stakes suneung exam by reducing the number of subjects on the test and ultimately – it’s envisioned – helping to alleviate pressure on applicants.

The timing of these anticipated reforms wasn’t solely coincidental, researchers said.

“It is not surprising that Japan and South Korea are tinkering with their national entrance exams. This is part of a global trend – China has been making a few changes in its infamous gaokao exam, mainly de-emphasising English,” noted Philip Altbach, professor of higher education at Boston College, who also noted changes to exams in the US.

Potential changes in Japan and Korea suggested a realisation that “the system of determining accepted students…is not so suitable for the rapidly changing times”, said Hiroshi Ota, a professor at the Center for General Education at Hitotsubashi University.

He noted that, globally, not many countries determined university admissions through one nationwide test determined by the government.

“It is difficult to make significant reforms in such a nationwide university entrance examination because fairness and equality for all applicants is the primary pursuit,” he said.

Regional disparities at high-school level complicated uniform testing, as did differences between higher education institutions, according to Professor Ota.

“This type of university entrance examination system would limit the autonomy of universities, where individual universities are supposed to decide their own admissions,” he said.

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Other scholars were sceptical about the usefulness of the exams, including any eventual upgrades to them.

Akiyoshi Yonezawa, vice-director of the international strategy office at Tohoku University, noted that a test based on the secondary school curriculum “does not necessarily predict” students’ learning performance in university.

Takuya Kimura, a professor in the school of education at Kyushu University, also expressed reservations that changes to Japan’s test would satisfy the policy goal of having all learners study information technology subjects.

“It is probably important to note that students tend not to be interested in what they do not study during their entrance examinations, even at universities,” he said.

He added that, due to a Japanese rule that changes to entrance exams must be announced two years in advance, “the entrance examination policy in Japan is always doomed to be delayed”.

Professor Kimura warned about changes resulting in “more stratification” in the system.

“The gap between students who can afford to study information subjects and those who cannot will increase,” he said.

Professor Altbach noted that changes to testing elsewhere had sometimes proven contentious.

“There has been much criticism in the US of the SAT and ACT college admissions tests, and many universities have become ‘test optional’ or even dropped them altogether,” he said.

As demographic decline and the adoption of AI by students raised more questions for traditional testing, more change elsewhere was probably on the way, Professor Altbach predicted.

“Similar debates and controversies will no doubt occur in China and Taiwan, where high-stakes testing is part of the national culture,” he added.

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com