With College Entrance Exam One Month Away, Authorities Move to Crack Down on Smart Glasses Cheating

With the 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) set to take place on November 19 at some 1,300 test sites nationwide, education authorities plan to tighten oversight on exam day, including verifying test-takers wearing glasses, to prevent cheating using smart glasses and other electronic devices. Smart glasses are classified as prohibited items; mere possession will result in the test being invalidated this year. Failure to cooperate with a proctor's request for inspection may be considered cheating.

This will be the final CSAT under the current system, with some 550,000 students expected to sit the exam. As the number of repeat test-takers increases due to factors such as the introduction of a regional admissions system, they are emerging as a key variable in college admissions.

Regarding study strategies for the time remaining, admissions experts advise reviewing past exam questions. Nam Yoon-gon, head of the Admissions Strategy Research Institute at Megastudy Education, said, "Students in the mid-to-lower ranks should not try to tackle difficult problems, but focus on reviewing their solutions to past exam questions."

The Ministry of Education will ask government offices and companies to adjust their start times to after 10 a.m. on exam day. Subway service will be increased, and vehicle traffic will be restricted within 200 meters of test sites. To prevent noise during the English listening assessment, aircraft and helicopter takeoffs and landings will be rescheduled, and military drills such as artillery firing will be temporarily suspended.