In 2025, students studying under the new program will take the high school graduation exam. To match the program, the exam will have many changes, in which candidates will take 4 subjects including Math, Literature and 2 elective subjects, instead of 6 subjects as before.
Nguyen Hoang Tu Trinh - a 12th grade student at Nguyen Du High School for the Gifted (Dak Lak) - feels worried about choosing a combination of subjects for the high school graduation exam.
"For those who have determined their admission combination, they can focus on reviewing. But for those who have not yet decided on their desired major and university, it will be very difficult. Therefore, at present, I am trying to study all subjects at a good level to give myself more opportunities when choosing subjects to take the exam" - Tu Trinh said.
In contrast to Tu Trinh, Le Thi Sang Sang - a 12th grade student at Kim Lien High School (Nghe An) is not too worried about the admission combination because she has decided to apply for block A1 (Math, Physics, English) early on. At this time, she is focusing on reviewing instead of worrying about choosing the admission combination.
But what worries me most is the change in the ratio of admission quotas between the methods of universities.
She shared that she had prepared quite carefully for early admission methods, including considering transcripts, foreign language certificates and competency assessment test scores. However, recently, the Ministry of Education and Training required schools to reserve more quotas for the high school graduation exam score method and this made her worried.
"I have to think again and focus more on reviewing for the graduation exam," Sang Sang said, adding that she has taken note of almost all admission methods to increase her competitiveness.
Focusing on reviewing for multiple exams at the same time - this is also the strategy that Nguyen Thi Linh Dan - a 12th grade student at Kim Lien High School (Nghe An) came up with to increase her chances of being admitted to the English Pedagogy major at the University of Foreign Languages (Vietnam National University, Hanoi).
Following the school's admission plan in previous years, Linh Dan realized that with the early admission method, students from specialized schools will have an advantage over her because they will receive extra points. But if the admission is combined with a foreign language certificate, candidates need an IELTS score of 8.0 to be sure of admission. "This is almost impossible for me," said the female student.
As for the admission method based on the scores of the competency assessment test and the high school graduation exam, the benchmark scores last year were all very high. Therefore, Linh Dan could not help but feel worried and pressured.
"Currently, I am focusing on studying for the IELTS exam and have not fully focused on studying for the graduation exam. I am quite worried, afraid that in the future I will have many important knowledge gaps" - she said.
In addition to the above difficulties, all three female students expressed that they were the first group of students to take the high school graduation exam under the new program with a lot of changes in the format and knowledge... The new exam not only focuses on grade 12 knowledge but also includes grade 10 and 11 knowledge - although not much. Along with that, the system of review materials and reference books for the new program is still limited and not rich, causing difficulties in the learning process.
The exam also has many practical elements such as in Math, Physics, Chemistry; the Literature exam uses text materials outside of textbooks; or the scoring method in the multiple choice part (candidates must answer all 4 questions correctly to get 1 point)... making students somewhat confused and worried about the upcoming important exam. This is a big challenge and difficulty in the review process.
