On the afternoon of August 5, Master Pham Thai Son - Director of the Admissions and Communication Center of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade - said that after the first virtual filtering, the benchmark score according to the method of considering the results of the 2026 high school graduation exam is expected to fluctuate from 18-23 points, about 0.5-3.5 points lower than in 2025 in many majors.
According to Mr. Son, the group of economics, management, finance, accounting, law and language majors is expected to have benchmark scores from 21-22.5 points. Among them, majors in the fields of business, commerce, marketing, finance and language may approach 22.5 points.
For the STEM industry group, including engineering, information technology, artificial intelligence, data science, electrical engineering, electromechanics, food technology, biotechnology and environmental technology, the benchmark score is forecast to fluctuate from 18-23 points.
Some engineering and technology industries may increase slightly by about 0.5 points compared to the previous year due to the continued increase in human resource demand in the fields of digital technology, automation, artificial intelligence and data.
The official benchmark score of each major also depends on the enrollment quota, the number of candidates registering aspirations, the order of aspirations and the results of the next virtual filtering rounds," Mr. Son said.
Explaining the reason, Mr. Son said that the conversion of scores between admission methods according to hundreds of positions is the first factor affecting the benchmark score. This conversion method is based on the relative position of candidates in the score distribution of each method, instead of linear conversion. Therefore, transcript scores, competency assessment exam scores or combined admission scores after conversion may be lower than the expectations of many candidates.
According to Mr. Son, the 2026 high school graduation exam is also assessed to have a higher level of differentiation than last year in popular combinations such as A00, A01, B00 and D01, causing the overall score distribution to be lower and directly affecting the average admission score.
The difference between the admission combinations of each major also affects the benchmark score. Depending on the major, some combinations are added or subtracted from 0.25-1 points compared to the original combination. Therefore, the 18-23 point level in the forecast is the benchmark score on the 30-point scale of the high school graduation exam after calculating the combination difference according to the regulations of each major.
Mr. Son noted that this is just a forecast after the first virtual filtering. The official benchmark score will only be determined after completing the national virtual filtering rounds according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
It is expected that the school will announce the benchmark scores at 3:00 PM on August 10. The list of officially admitted candidates will be posted on August 12, after completing the general virtual filtering process according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
