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The Korean Council for University Education said Wednesday that 21 universities in South Korea will consider school violence records in their regular admission processes for the 2025 school year.
The colleges include Seoul National University, the country’s top-ranked university, Korea University, Hanyang University, Konkuk University, Korea University Sejong Campus, Kookmin University and the University of Seoul.
The decision comes after the government announced strengthened policies against perpetrators earlier this month at a time when the country faces a public reckoning over school violence.
While school violence records are set to be reflected on a “mandatory” basis for admissions in 2026 under the revised policies, 21 universities have decided to demand applicants to submit their past records to screen their histories of bullying or any type of school violence that had happened in high school and will have those reflected starting next year.
The KCUE said that the decision was to “adhere to the public’s voices that bullying-related disciplinary records must be reflected imminently,” explaining that it would take part in tackling school bullying.
Further details on how bullying records will be reflected in college admissions, such as how many points will be deducted in the application process will be determined by universities on an individual basis. The guidelines will be announced by each university in May next year.
Bullying records were not reviewed for regular admissions that only consider Suneung (College Scholastic Ability Test) scores and self-evaluation tests conducted by the universities. But the 2025 college admission guidelines will compel school bullying perpetrators to take responsibility for their transgressions when applying for college, the KCUE explained.
Currently, lesser disciplinary and other school records are reflected only in early admissions, although they do not hold the same importance as transcripts, after-school activities and a teacher’s recommendation letters weigh more heavily in deciding which students to admit.
On a separate note, 112 universities will reflect school violence records in the same period, and student-athletes, who had been receiving privileges in university admissions, will also be told to submit their school violence records.
Bullying records will not be included in this year’s college admissions because changes to university criteria and admissions guidelines must be announced two years in advance, according to the Education Ministry.
