Converting admission scores to ensure fairness
The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has issued the 2025 enrollment regulations with many new points. Notably, eliminating early admission and applying equivalent conversion of scores between admission methods in the same major or training program is a highlight.
Speaking to the press on the afternoon of April 3, Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Minh Son - Deputy Minister of Education and Training said that for majors or training programs that only use one admission method (such as using only high school graduation exam scores, or only considering admission by the competency assessment exam/thinking assessment...), schools do not need to make conversion.
"However, if a major has two or more admission methods, it is necessary to ask why the high school graduation exam score for admission is 25/30 points, but the competency assessment exam takes 120/150 points, while the transcript is 24/30 points?" - the Deputy Minister raised the question.
Looking back at the admission season in previous years, Deputy Minister Son said that schools' admission scores are based on the allocation of quotas and when the Ministry requires schools to explain, they cannot do so.
Another problem arises: If a school arbitrarily adjusts the quota between admission methods without transparency, what ensures that this is not abused?
"This is a loophole, with potential negative risks and does not ensure fairness in enrollment" - said the Deputy Minister.
Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training is forced to issue strict regulations, not allowing schools to decide on their own admission scores according to each admission method without a clear scientific basis.
Aut responsibility must be associated with accountability
In response to concerns that converting scores may affect the autonomy of admission of higher education institutions, the Deputy Minister affirmed: Autonomy does not mean arbitrariness, but must ensure the principle of fairness, transparency and accountability.
Schools still have the right to decide on admission methods, but the Ministry will guide the conversion of scores to ensure that admission methods in the same major have similarities in candidate capacity assessment.
This year, the Ministry not only requires schools to explain the allocation of quotas, but also requires a clear explanation of admission admission scores between admission methods in the same major. The explanation must be based on science, not based on the allocation of quotas according to the subjective will of each school.
Emphasizing that the main goal of the conversion is to evaluate candidates' abilities fairly between admission methods, the Deputy Minister also admitted that it is impossible to apply a common conversion formula for all majors and all schools. Because each training sector has its own characteristics, the Ministry does not impose a rigid formula.
"Currently, there are thousands of different majors and training programs, so the Ministry only offers a common conversion scoring framework, including basic criteria such as: High school graduation exam scores, transcript scores, competency assessment exam scores, thinking assessment. On this basis, schools can adjust the conversion rate to suit the characteristics of each industry and each school" - said the Deputy Minister.
To convert scientific scores, according to the Deputy Minister, there are many methods of converting, but in general, universities can completely implement this conversion scientifically.
In addition to guiding the conversion of scores based on entrance exam results, the Ministry of Education and Training also proposes a more scientific approach: Re-verify the conversion of scores based on students' learning results.
Schools can evaluate the learning results of first- and second-year students to check whether the groups of students admitted using different methods have a correlation in their abilities or not.
If an admission method has a lower standard score but students have better academic results, or vice versa, a higher standard score but students study less, this may indicate the unreasonableness of the conversion method.
"Based on this data, schools can adjust the conversion rate to better suit the reality. If the different capacity assessment methods are too large and cannot be converted, they should not be used for admission to the same major" - said the Deputy Minister.
