A SEOUL court ruled partially in favor of a group of college entrance exam takers and their parents in a lawsuit seeking state compensation for an erroneous early “time is up” signal that shortened the exam time by two minutes.

The exam time for the fourth session of the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test, held in December 2020, was cut short for exam takers in a high school in western Seoul as the bell signaling the session’s end was sounded earlier than normal by mistake.

Exam supervisors collected test papers after the bell, but after realizing the mistake, they redistributed the papers to examinees to make up for the lost time.

A group of 25 exam takers and their parents filed the suit seeking a total of 88 million won (US$73,498) in compensation from the state, the Seoul city government and others.

The plaintiffs argued the students were unable to take advantage of the additional time given due to the unexpected circumstance and the duration of the extra time allowed was not identical for each exam room in the school. Partially granting their demands, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the state to pay 2 million won in compensation to each of the nine students who joined the suit. The court, however, dismissed the demand for compensation from the Seoul city government and a teacher who was in charge of broadcasting on the exam day. (SD-Agencies)