South Korean students prepare for eight-hour ‘hardest exam in the world’ - BBC News

Students in South Korea are sitting the college entrance exam, the Suneung, a gruelling eight-hour marathon.

The stakes are really high, with students feeling the pressure to perform well to secure university placements, jobs and even future relationships.

Three Korean students documented their journey for the BBC preparing for one of the hardest exams in the world.

#SouthKorea #BBCNews

[Froge]

There's no reason to test anyone for such a long amount of time. You're no longer testing their knowledge, you're testing their endurance.

[FoodwaysDistribution]

An 8 hours long exam after 12 years of studying is a terrible thing.

[JohnSOh-zgur]

This is my high school life in South Korea in 1996-1998:

First class starts at 7am. Last self study ends at 11:40pm which is mandatory. 10 times of 8-hour practice test (kind of SAT) a year - 30 times for 3 years. Life was crazy. In my first year of high, I was around 37th out of 54 in my class - I was 3% top in the whole country though. I graduated from top 5 school in Korea.
Now, I'm one of Asians in the US who don't speak English well and I'm just a normal pay check to pay check person in the US.

[ursula]

I need 1% of these students dedication to study for exam..

[yongbinsong]

As a Korean who did the test several decades ago, this system is terribly insane. The world is changing and the entrance exam can no longer be valid, and it must be replaced with any other more productive methods.

[laylap]

the fact they're stressing 100 days before is literally crazy, proves how stressful it is

[Berrybay]

I'm a Korean mom having one daughter. I left the country where I've lived my whole life because of this. I didn't want my daughter to go through this miserable life. It's such a pointless way of studying.

[luminshim]

I’m a korean student and Suneung is only 3 days left now. I studied very hard-and well-so i applied for the top 3 universities. FYI i want to tell you that korean college-entrance system isn’t that simple. Suneung is one of the TWO main roads. The other is called ‘susi’ (no idea how should i translate). This system requires your highschool grades (3 years), documents about your school activities, cover letters, suneung grades also, and interview. The ‘school activity’ part includes dozens of presentations and papers, club activities, list of books you’ve read, volunteerings, and more. Students participate in these activities just for their college entrance. I’m one of them, i applied for the universities in ‘susi’ so nowadays im studying suneung and preparing for the interviews(which are hard as hell). +In korea, there’s grade 1~9 (like A~F in other countries) and they are relative grades. Ex) only top 4% of students can get grade 1. It’s different with other countries(like you get A if you reach enough score, no matter how other students did). Korean education system is complicated, dreadful, and awkward, but i’m proud that i did it well. Hope this comment help you understand more about korea!

[ihopeicanchangethisnamelat]

‘There are so many times when I’m so tired and want to cry and quit everything’ — me, studying for a 50-minute English exam

[intreoo]

I really hope that girl did well and that she can go on a trip with her friends. It hit deep when she said, "I want to go to the ocean without my backpack".

[icewristvv]

we have the same thing at turkey and really it's so hard, it starts at 8th grade. when you are 13 you have to just study. u gotta forget your friends, hobbies and anything that u love. u gotta just focus on the exam. if you go a bad high school it means that you are not gonna go to abgood university. unfortunatly in our country there's no worth to have an art job. if you want to come good places (bout career) you have to know maths so well. there's no worth for verbal and art lessons. your family just want you to be an engineer, doctor or lawyer. the education system is so annoying. i hate it and i'll.

[camilod]

I used to watch this video because it would make me feel less alone while I was studying for PAES (College admission test in my country, Chile) seeing all these kids stress about their test and getting into college, felt like I could relate so much. Yesterday I found out I have enough points score to get into the college i wanted. I hope they did too.

[Azuriiee]

The most worrying about this is their parents care more about the result than their child's mental health, and also 12 years of preparing and 8 hours of exams is just brutal. I hope they come up with better ideas ASAP.

[AizenMikoto]

This really makes you think that something is DREADFULLY wrong with the educational system. Not just in Korea, but worldwide.

[reki]

It reminds me of jee. I can relate how when you're preparing for something like this, you can't have fun without feeling anxious. I panicked 100 days before exams and a lot of other kids did too. It's an unreal thing to know when it ends. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't and I've accepted that there are many smarter than I am. These exams take a huge hit on your self worth and esteem. It feels heavy, I know, to anyone out there preparing for such exams, remember to breathe and know that this is just an exam, a very important one indeed but the grade defines how you did on exam not your worth. Breathe and know that this isn't where it all ends. There's a lot more to life. You'll get there. Keep fighting!

[calculus]

Being a jee aspirant from india ..i can feel these students pain

[sempiternalseason]

I had a friend who lives in Korea and she told me about how stressful the exams there were. She was not wrong. 8 hours, saying that's intense is an understatement.

[therealguy]

It’s a shame federal testing such as this is a horrible way to determine an individuals capacity and capabilities. Good work to these kids an 8hour exam sounds absolutely challenging and I wish them all well!

[xisqydn]

수능 39일 남은 시점에 이게 알고리즘에 뜨는 건 뭐람, , K-고3분들, 재수생분들, n수생분들 모두 짱짱보이 짱짱걸임 모두 자신이 원하는 삶을 살길 바랍니다.. 진심으로... 하 평ㄱㅏ원 나랑 싸우자

[elanurguzelsoy]

as a turkish student, i relate to them a lot, even though i am studying for my highschool entrance exam. it is so hard like the exam that is shown in the video and i am not even studying "so hard yet" (even though i study for 3-4 hours a day, i will probably study 8+ hours a day too) i wish we could enjoy our youth :(