South Korean students launch legal action against their government for £12,000 each after their college admission exams are ended 90 seconds early

•  The sum demanded would cover the cost of another year studying
•  The eight-hour test features back-to-back papers on multiple subjects
•  Students left so upset they were unable to focus on the rest of the exam

A group of South Korean students have launched legal action against the government after their college admission exams ended 90 seconds early.

At least 39 students, have demanded 20 million won (£12,000) each, after the error affected their performances in the rest of the tests, their lawyer has said.

The sum demanded would cover the cost of another year studying to retake the exam.

Known as Suneung, South Korea’s eight-hour college admission test features back-to-back papers on multiple subjects.

The lawsuit states a bell rang early at a test site in Seoul during the exam’s first subject – Korean.

At least 39 students, have demanded 20 million won (£12,000) each, after the error affected their performances in the rest of the tests, their lawyer has said (File Image)

Suneung is one of the world’s hardest exams and can determine future jobs and relationships as well as university placements (File Image)

Although some students protested immediately, supervisors still took their papers away, the BBC reported.

The mistake was identified before the second session and the 90 seconds were given back to the students over the lunch break. But examiners only allowed blank columns to be marked and students were not allowed to revise any of their existing answers.

Suneung is one of the world’s hardest exams and can determine future jobs and relationships as well as university placements.

The country’s airspace is closed and opening of the stock market delayed on the day of the annual event in a bid to help students concentrate.

The results of this year’s exam were released on December 8.

Students said they were left so upset they were unable to focus on the rest of the exam, with some reportedly getting up and going home.

Their lawyer Kim Woo-suk told local media the education authorities had not apologised.

Public broadcaster KBS quoted officials who said the supervisor in charge of the specific test centre had misread the time.

In April, a court in Seoul awarded 7 million won (£4,200) to students who claimed they were disadvantaged at the 2021 exam after the bell rang about two minutes early.

In 2012, a man in China was given a one-year suspended sentence for ringing the bell four minutes and 48 seconds early during the national college entrance exam at a school in Hunan province.

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