The regional gap in the share of students scoring in the top two tiers on the math section of South Korea's college entrance exam has widened to its largest margin in five years, according to new data. Analysts point to differences in private tutoring participation and spending, on top of broader disparities in educational environment.
Seoul posted the highest share of students in the top two math tiers on the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test at 16.7%, while the lowest-ranking region recorded just 4.7%, Jongno Academy said on the 18th. Nationally, the top tier accounts for 4% of test-takers and the second tier 7%, for a combined 11% — a benchmark against which Seoul's performance stands out. Gyeonggi Province followed at 10.7%, with Sejong at 10.0%.
The 12.0-percentage-point gap between Seoul and the weakest-performing region marked the widest spread in the past five years. Because science and engineering programs often assign extra weight to math scores, Seoul students are likely to have held an advantage in admissions to top universities through the regular admissions track, analysts said.
Seoul students also outperformed in Korean language. The capital recorded 13.7% of students in the top two tiers, 9.2 percentage points above the lowest-ranking region at 4.5% — again the widest gap in five years. Gyeonggi Province ranked second at 9.2% and Sejong third at 8.9%. "The regional gap has remained wide for five consecutive years in math, a subject that carries a relatively heavier study burden than Korean language," said Lim Sung-ho, head of Jongno Academy.
Seoul's high rate of private tutoring participation has translated into differences in academic achievement, according to one analysis. Ministry of Education data showed that 72.8% of high school students in Seoul took private lessons last year, the highest nationwide. Gyeonggi Province and Sejong, the next two best performers academically, ranked second and third at 67.5% and 67.1%. Monthly private education spending per high school student in Seoul reached 767,000 won, far above other major regions including Gyeonggi Province at 573,000 won, Incheon at 505,000 won, Daegu at 490,000 won, Daejeon at 486,000 won and Sejong at 472,000 won.