The chief organiser of South Korea’s notoriously gruelling university entrance exams has resigned – after complaints that an English test he designed was too difficult.

Passing the exam, known locally as the Suneung, is essential for admission to prestigious universities and regarded as a gateway to upward social mobility, economic security and even a good marriage.

But this year, just over 3% of exam-takers scored top marks in the English test – the lowest since absolute grading was introduced for the subject in 2018.

Students were given 70 minutes to answer 45 questions. One singled out for criticism asked them to assess the political philosophers Immanuel Kant and Thomas Hobbes and analyse their views on the rule of law. Another asked them to consider the nature of time and clocks, while a third questioned how the idea of existence might apply to video game avatars.

These questions prompted a significant backlash in a country where the exam is taken so seriously that flights are grounded nationwide for 35 minutes during the English listening test to eliminate any potential noise.

In response, Oh Seung-keol, the chief of Korea’s Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, stepped down. He said he felt “a heavy sense of responsibility for the English section of the test, which did not align with the principles of absolute evaluation”, the institution said.

He also apologised for “causing concern to test-takers and their parents, and for causing confusion in the college entrance exam process”.

The agency issued a separate apology, saying it “takes seriously the criticism that the test failed to meet the appropriate level of difficulty and the goal of reducing students’ academic burden”.

The use of the portmanteau “culturtainment” in the test was also a source of confusion – even from the academic behind the phrase.

Stuart Moss, a senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University in the UK, said he was “very surprised” to see the phrase included. “I am also of the opinion that this word should never have featured in the exam due it not being in common English usage,” he said in an email reply to a South Korean test-taker, reported by the local daily Munhwa Ilbo.

Enormous pressure on students in South Korea’s ultra-competitive education system has been partly blamed for teenage depression and suicide rates that are among the highest in the world.

This month, South Korea’s national assembly approved an amended law banning private English-language educational institutes from administering entrance tests to preschoolers.

Test scores have long been a highly sensitive and closely scrutinised issue. This week, the nephew of the Samsung Electronics chief, Lee Jae-yong – a member of one of South Korea’s most powerful and wealthy families – made headlines after he reportedly failed a single question on the exam, still earning him admission to the country’s top Seoul National University.