On the day before the application deadline for the 2025 college admissions, a citizen passes by a medical school entrance exam-related academy in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 8th. The ruling party mentioned the possibility of “restarting discussions from scratch” on the 2026 medical school admission quotas under the premise of presenting reasonable opinions from the medical field. However, the medical community continues to insist on the withdrawal of the increase in admissions for the 2025 academic year. According to the education authorities, withdrawing the increase in admissions for the 2025 academic year is not possible. Analysis suggests that changing the recruitment numbers could lead to significant confusion as the application process for the 2025 academic year starts on the 9th.
According to reports on the 8th from the education and political circles, the government proposed creating a ‘Government-Party-Medical-Political Consultative Body’ to negotiate the medical school admission quotas for the 2026 academic year with the medical sector. The medical field maintains the position of not participating in the discussions until a comprehensive review of the 2025 admissions increase is conducted.
The education sector believes that the 2025 medical school admission quotas have entered an irreversible process. According to the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education (KCU), 39 medical schools nationwide and over 190 general universities are set to start receiving applications for the 2025 academic year starting on the 9th. The total number of new students to be recruited for the 2025 academic year in general universities nationwide is 346,584. Among them, 79.5% (275,837 students) will be admitted through the regular admissions process. For medical schools, the total recruitment target for the 2025 academic year at 39 institutions, excluding Cha University of Medicine, has increased by 1,497 students (48.1%) from the previous year to 4,610 students (including the quota). Among these, 67.6% (3,118 students) will be admitted through the regular admissions process.
The education authorities consider May 30 as the deadline for final changes to the 2025 admissions, with the decision to increase the recruitment quota by 1509 students. The KCU held a pre-admission committee meeting on May 24 to approve changes to the admission plans for the 2025 academic year, including the recruitment quotas for 39 medical schools nationwide. The Ministry of Education finalized the admission plan on the 30th of the same month. Each university then announced detailed admission guidelines, including the modified admission plans and regional talent recruitment ratios, on their admission websites. Overseas Korean and foreign student admissions have already been implemented in July.
The medical community has a different perspective. They argue that since the announcement of the successful applicants for the regular admissions is in December, there is room to change the admission quotas for the 2025 academic year. The challenge lies in the fact that to change the recruitment for the 2025 academic year, adjustments need to be made in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, revision of the basic principles for university admissions, and amendment of the university admission plans through the KCU. Reversing the increase in admissions for this year is not easy.
Although the number of medical school admissions is only about 1.1% of the total number of regular admissions, changes in the results of medical school admissions that top students apply for can impact the overall admissions landscape. With the increase in medical school admissions targets, there will be subsequent effects on the admission cutoffs for other medical fields such as dentistry, oriental medicine, and pharmacy, as well as popular majors at major universities.
The number of retest takers, including those who have not passed on previous attempts, has also increased. Among those who took the mock exam in September, held on the 4th, the ratio of graduates and high school equivalency exam passers was 21.8%, the second-highest since 2011 when the mock exam statistics were first released. The difference between this year’s ratio and the highest recorded ratio from the previous year, 21.9%, is only 0.1%.
Prospective test-takers are also feeling confused. On admission community websites, posts expressing concerns such as “If the increase in medical school admissions falls through, I might have to give up on applying to local universities through the regular admissions route” or “With the possibility of the increase in admissions being reversed right before the application deadline, I’m unsure how to prepare” are surfacing.
An industry insider mentioned, “With the ongoing confusion over the increase in medical school admissions this year, students and parents are already facing a challenging situation. If the recruitment numbers are changed after the regular admissions applications, which already involve many variables such as expanded non-specialization programs and medical school admissions, it could lead to further disruptions to the government’s educational policy in the 2025 admissions.”