Large parts of South Korea will come to a standstill on Thursday as students nationwide prepare to take their all-important university entrance exams, in a country where academic success is seen as paramount.

As more than 500,000 seniors take the equivalent of the SAT from 8:40 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. local time, businesses will delay their openings to prevent disruption to students going to test centers. Trading in stocks and foreign exchange will be delayed by an hour to 10 a.m. and the stock market will close an hour later than normal. Police will be deployed to assist any students running late for their exams.