Candidates across the country have completed registration and adjustment of university admission aspirations in 2026. From the score distribution of the 2026 high school graduation exam of more than 1.2 million candidates, many experts predict that this year's benchmark scores will decrease in many training majors, although the reduction level may vary between schools and each major group.
According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan - Head of the Training Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, this year's university admission scores are forecast to tend to decrease in many training majors, except for some specialized majors in the field of health.
Mr. Nhan said that majors that used to have very high benchmark scores in previous years, from 27.5 points or higher, are likely to no longer maintain this score level in 2026. For majors that previously took about 24-25 points, the benchmark score may also decrease.
Majors with high scores in previous years will decrease this year. I think that is the general trend of all majors, especially social science majors that will decrease this year," Mr. Nhan said.
According to him, the main reason comes from the change in the score distribution of the high school graduation exam. The average score this year is lower, while the factors that used to increase the benchmark score in previous enrollment seasons no longer have as much impact as before.
This year, the Ministry of Education and Training for the first time stipulated that candidates must achieve a minimum of 15 points for the 3-subject combination for admission to be eligible to register for university admission.
Analyzing this regulation, Dr. Nguyen Trung Nhan said that although in each separate exam subject there are many candidates achieving below average, when considering according to the combination of 3 subjects, the intermediate score is still around 17-18 points. Statistics show that about 20% of candidates have a total score below 15, which means there are still more than 800,000 candidates eligible to participate in the admission consideration. Therefore, the recruitment source of universities is still quite abundant.
Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Pham Tan Ha - Director of the Admissions Counseling Center of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, said that this year's high school graduation exam results, especially in some subjects, have decreased significantly compared to last year, so university admission scores will definitely decrease.
The benchmark score at 27-28 points will hardly happen for many majors that used to have very high benchmark scores like last year. According to my forecast, the benchmark score may decrease by about 1-2 points," Mr. Ha assessed.
However, Mr. Ha also noted that the reduction level will not be the same in all majors. Majors that attract many high-achieving candidates can still maintain high benchmark scores and only slightly decrease. Conversely, majors with fewer high-scoring candidates registering may decrease deeper.
According to the plan of the Ministry of Education and Training, after completing the aspiration processing process on the system, schools will announce the benchmark scores and the list of first-round admissions before 5:00 PM on August 13. Admitted candidates, including direct admissions, must confirm admission on the system before 5:00 PM on August 21 if they wish to study.
