The number of people who moved to Seoul for their children's education declined for the first time in five years. Analysts attribute the shift to the growing weight of high school records (naeshin) in college admissions, which has weakened the traditional preference for Seoul's elite school districts. Some forecast that Seoul's position as an education hub will be further shaken by the upcoming regional doctor quota system and the expansion of school record-based admissions.
According to the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) of the National Data Agency on Monday, 92,365 people moved to Seoul for "education" purposes last year, down about 3 percent from 95,209 the previous year.
It marks the first annual decline in education-purpose migration to Seoul since 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Education-purpose migration to Seoul had risen for five consecutive years starting in 2015, dipped in 2021, and then climbed again for four straight years.
The decline stands out given that total migration to Seoul actually rose from 1,221,380 in 2024 to 1,244,928 the following year.
The trend becomes clearer when examined by district. Gangnam, home to Daechi-dong and widely regarded as Korea's "No. 1 education district," saw arrivals drop sharply from 9,191 in 2024 to 7,173 the following year. Yangcheon, home to Mok-dong, also fell from 4,290 to 3,859 during the same period. In contrast, education-purpose arrivals rose in Gwanak (7,725 to 8,074), Seongbuk (7,632 to 7,844), and Seodaemun (5,549 to 5,551), which are densely populated with universities and exam-prep dormitories. Analysts say that if one excludes those who moved from the provinces to Seoul after gaining university admission, the decline in education-purpose migration would have been even steeper.
Admissions industry observers say the "Seoul premium" in education has diminished. "Students living in the provinces have more opportunities in early admissions through programs such as the rural student track and regional balanced selection, compared to students living in Seoul," an admissions industry official said. "In particular, more universities are expected to reflect school records to some extent even in regular admissions, so attending a Seoul high school, where school record competition is relatively fierce, could put students at a disadvantage."
In Seoul's elite school districts, school record competition is so intense that many students give up on their records after the first midterm exam of their first year of high school and instead adopt an "all-in" strategy on the college entrance exam (suneung). A considerable number of students in these districts even drop out of school to focus entirely on the suneung, cutting the time spent on performance assessments recorded in student records and on written exams such as midterms and finals. According to Korean Educational Development Institute data, among general high schools in Seoul's 25 districts in 2024, Gangnam and Seocho—both part of the elite "Gangnam No. 8 school district"—had the highest academic dropout rate at 2.7 percent each, followed by Songpa, one of the "three Gangnam districts," at 2.1 percent.
Universities are also increasing the share of early admissions based on school records, fueling expectations that the decline in preference for Seoul will continue. The share of early admissions in total university admissions first exceeded half in 2007 at 51.5 percent, and has surged to an all-time high of 80.8 percent for the 2028 academic year. Notably, Seoul National University will cut its regular admissions share to 34.3 percent for the 2028 academic year, down 7.1 percentage points, while Yonsei University will lower its share by 9.4 percentage points to 33.8 percent, raising the bar for regular admissions at top universities even higher. The planned introduction of the "regional doctor quota system," which requires applicants to have graduated from middle and high schools in the relevant region, is also expected to boost preference for the provinces.
Some argue that massive budget investments by local governments have pushed provincial education infrastructure beyond Seoul's level in certain areas. "Students living in the provinces face a much lower bar for admission to local gifted education institutes compared to Seoul students," said Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy. "For parents who want to provide elite education for their children, living in the provinces and leveraging the related infrastructure is far more advantageous than paying high private education costs to live in Seoul."
Others maintain that Seoul still holds significant advantages in education. Moving to Seoul remains a viable option if a student's strengths are suited to the suneung or if the possibility of retaking the exam two or more times—known as "N-su"—is factored in. Seoul high schools have many so-called "regular admissions fighters," and even at the school level, the environment for suneung preparation is well established, while Seoul's private education infrastructure overwhelms that of other regions.
Considering the unique study atmosphere of elite school districts and the networks built through middle and high school, Seoul's advantages in education remain substantial. Among parents, it is often said that "for students in elite districts such as Daechi-dong, sneaking off to a PC room behind their parents' backs is considered deviant behavior"—a testament to how firmly an academic atmosphere has taken root. "In some provincial areas, it is not uncommon for students who have received early admissions to have their acceptances canceled because they fail to meet the minimum suneung requirements, which shows that an academic gap does exist between Seoul's elite school districts and other provinces," an official at a Seoul admissions academy said. "Since students only take their first nationwide exam in the first year of high school, where they can gauge their nationwide ranking, one strategy is to build up skills in a major school district through middle school and then transfer to a high school outside the elite districts."
