The 2026 university admission regulations issued by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in mid-February have many new points compared to 2025.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tien Thao - Director of the Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training emphasized 5 important changes in the admission regulations after the process of consulting experts and scientists is completed. These points include:
First, re-determine the source of recruitment. According to Mr. Thao, for the first time, the Law on Higher Education re-regulates the source of recruitment, limiting the methods to ensure quality input sources. Candidates need to pay special attention to the method of considering based on high school results, also known as academic records. Previously, academic records could be considered for grade 12, possibly 5 or 6 semesters, or possibly 1-2 semesters. From 2026, higher education institutions considering academic records must determine enough 6 semesters (3 years of high school).
Besides, the condition is that candidates must achieve 15 points in one admission combination. In case candidates do not take the graduation exam but have other admission combinations, it is mandatory to have Math, Literature and another subject reaching 15 points to be eligible for academic transcript admission" - Mr. Thao analyzed.
The second is the aspiration limit. This year, the Ministry set a limit of 15 aspirations instead of unlimited as in previous years. The Director of the Higher Education Department said that based on the summary of 2025 enrollment and statistics over the past time, most candidates only focus on 1 to 5 aspirations, a small number to 10.
Statistics from the Ministry show that about 98.5% of candidates registered under 10 aspirations, about 1.5% registered from aspirations 10 and above. Among them, the admission rate from aspirations 10 only accounts for about 0.34%, very small. The next statistic is that students who passed with high aspirations did not participate in the first round of admission but used that right to apply for additional admission.
Therefore, the number of candidates registering for admission in high aspirations is extremely low. Based on the above requirements, the Ministry of Education and Training reviews the overall data from the past 3 years and proposes a plan for candidates to carefully consider and study, arrange scientifically and tactically a maximum of 15 aspirations. In addition, for teacher training majors, the number of aspirations is limited from 1 to 5 to focus resources on investing in teacher development in the coming time" - Mr. Thao said.
Third is admission based on foreign language certificates. Previously, schools developed plans to convert foreign language certificate scores to different scales, or both convert and add points. To ensure objective, transparent, and fair principles, universities can develop plans to convert foreign language certificate scores to a scale of 10 to replace foreign language subjects in the admission combination, or add a maximum score of 0 - 1.5 points according to the 30-point scale.
Fourth, for candidates studying international training programs taught in foreign languages at the high school level, students with foreign nationality or Vietnamese studying abroad can participate in admission to university training programs in Vietnam.
Fifth, the admission combination for candidates in different regions will be based on priority points according to the school area in high school. Candidates studying their final year at which school or the longest time at which school will enjoy priority at that school.
In addition, there are some technical adjustments to ensure that candidates meet the requirements for admission consideration in the coming time. These are basic adjustments to ensure objectivity, transparency, fairness and serve the enrollment period from 2026 onwards" - Mr. Thao said and emphasized that the enrollment regulations for 2026 will be maintained stably for a long time to come.
