Literature exam open-ended, no longer rote learning, cramming
Candidates participating in the 2026 high school graduation exam this year have gone through 4 exams, including 2 compulsory subjects: Math, Literature and 2 elective subjects from the remaining subjects.
Assessing this year's Literature exam, Ms. Duong Thi Thanh Thuy, Head of the Literature Department of M.V. Lomonosov Secondary and High School (Hanoi) said that this year's exam marked a positive impression because of its humanity, openness and reasonable differentiation ability, and at the same time, sent a clear message: Learning Literature is no longer memorizing, but learning how to read, think and present opinions.
In particular, the outstanding new point of the 2026 exam is the clear increase in topicality and practicality through the selection of issues related to science, technology, innovation and the responsibility of young people in the digital age.
If the 2025 exam mainly focuses on human values, personal experiences and close social issues, then the 2026 exam expands the scope of assessment to civic thinking capacity in the face of development issues of the country and the world. Students need to have the ability to criticize and relate to reality to be able to handle the questions of the exam well" - Ms. Thuy analyzed.
Ms. Thuy predicts that this year's score distribution will mainly range from 6.5 - 7.75 points. A score of 9 or higher may still appear, but it will be for truly outstanding articles in terms of thinking depth, reasoning ability and language proficiency.
Similarly with Math, many candidates and teachers commented that the exam questions were relatively manageable, not tricky, but still ensured differentiation.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Lan - lecturer at Thuy Loi University - said that entering the 2nd year of taking the exam according to the 2018 General Education Program, students approach this year's exam questions with a proactive mentality, no longer being surprised like last year's exam.
Although the differentiation in the final question group is still very high to screen good candidates, in general, the exam questions bring a comfortable feeling thanks to being close to the actual learning ability of the students" - Mr. Lan said.
Exam questions for elective subjects increase practical situations
Not only Math and Literature - 2 compulsory subjects, but also elective subjects are commented by teachers as being close, increasing practicality, and reducing rote learning.
Regarding Chemistry, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Sa, Chemistry teacher at Luong The Vinh Secondary & High School (Tan Trieu campus, Hanoi) commented that compared to 2025, this year's exam questions are a bit more difficult, with clearer classification. However, the exam questions require students not only to memorize knowledge but also to understand, to apply and combine knowledge while reasoning to answer right or wrong or choose the correct answer.
Teacher Sa assessed that the exam questions closely followed the 2018 general education program and the requirements to be met by the Ministry of Education and Training. 90% of the knowledge in the questions came from grade 12, mainly theory and no longer classical calculation exercises like before. "The questions are good and have the ability to classify students very well. The predicted score distribution for this year will be equivalent to last year's level of about 6.5-7" - teacher Sa said.
Similarly with English, Ms. Hoang Xuan - GV Tuyensinh247. com commented that this is a fairly difficult exam and has good differentiation. The 2026 high school graduation exam is organized at 2,487 exam sites with nearly 50,000 exam rooms. The results will be announced at 8 am on July 1, about 12 days earlier than the previous year.
The new point is that candidates must achieve a total score of 3 subjects according to the combination from 15 or higher, regardless of the university admission method.
The exam results will be announced at 8 am on July 1, about 12 days earlier than last year. A new point in this year's admission regulations is that candidates must achieve a total graduation exam score of three subjects according to the combination from 15 or higher, regardless of which method of university admission is considered.
