The annual College Scholastic Ability Test(CSAT) is being held at nearly 14-hundred test sites across the nation on Thursday, amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. 

The state-administered college entrance exam began with a Korean language test at 8:40 a.m. It will be followed by the math, English, Korean history and science portions. The fifth and final foreign language exam will end at 5:40 p.m.

Initially, the annual exam was set to be held on November 19 but was postponed by two weeks after schools pushed back the beginning of the first semester to April due to the COVID-19 epidemic.  

About 493-thousand people applied for the test this year, down some ten percent from last year. The figure is the lowest to be posted since the CSAT was introduced in 1994.

Test takers who are in self-quarantine can take the test at about 110 separate venues while those infected with the virus can take the test at some 30 medical facilities under the supervision of proctors.  

All test takers are required to wear face masks.