Change nguyện vọng 2 and 3 to avoid pressure
Hanoi City People's Committee has issued a public high school 10th grade enrollment plan for the 2026 - 2027 school year.
This year, the exam takes place on two days, May 30 and 31. Candidates taking the exam take exams in three subjects: Math, Literature and Foreign Language (mainly English).
Students taking exams at one of the four specialized schools Hanoi - Amsterdam, Nguyen Hue, Chu Van An, Son Tay will take additional specialized subjects on June 1.
Each candidate is allowed to register a maximum of three aspirations for three public high schools, regardless of region. Candidates are not allowed to change the order of aspirations after registration.
Students who are not admitted to nguyện vọng 1 will be considered for nguyện vọng 2 and 3, but must have benchmark scores 0.5 and 1 points higher respectively. This level is half lower than in previous years.
In the previous school year, Hanoi was divided into 12 enrollment areas. Candidates are required to register nguyện vọng 1, nguyện vọng 2 in the same enrollment area. nguyện vọng 3 can belong to any enrollment area.
Before this new point, Nguyen Thu Giang - a student of To Hoang Secondary School (Bach Mai ward, Hanoi) - quickly researched some schools to adjust her aspirations.
The female student plans to still keep nguyện vọng 1 which is Viet Duc High School, only more than 1km from home. In nguyện vọng 2 and 3, she is considering Dong Da High School and Do Muoi High School.
If according to previous years, I would not be allowed to register for schools in area 3 such as Dong Da High School, although the school is quite close to my house, only more than 2km away. Removing the admission area gives me more choices because schools in area 2 have quite high scores and are close to each other" - Thu Giang shared.
According to the female student, removing the admission area helps students have maximum opportunities to be admitted according to their abilities. However, she is also under pressure due to the situation that many candidates will register for top schools, causing the benchmark score to increase compared to every year.
Currently, my total score of 3 subjects fluctuates quite erratically, Literature sometimes decreases by 1.5 points. I am worried that if there is no longer zoning, many candidates will flock to schools like Viet Duc High School, causing the benchmark score to increase unexpectedly. It is also because of this that I chose aspiration 2 with a certain gap compared to the first aspiration" - Thu Giang confided.
Keeping aspirations unchanged, prioritizing schools near home
Unlike candidates in the central area, many students in suburban communes decided not to adjust their aspirations when removing the division of enrollment areas.
Luu An Khang - a student of Thanh Xuan Secondary School (Noi Bai commune, Hanoi) - said that he still maintains his first 2 aspirations, Kim Anh High School and Minh Phu High School.
Both schools are near my house so it is convenient for me to go to school every day. I and many friends do not intend to change their aspirations to schools in the central area because it will be difficult to move and there is also very high competition" - the male student shared.
Although not under pressure to compete for top schools, An Khang is also not subjective about new changes. He is adjusting his self-study plan, increasing evening practice time to focus maximally on exam subjects.
Many students will think that students only flock to schools in the center. However, it is not ruled out that students in the center with good scores will register back to suburban schools. Therefore, I think I should not be subjective even though my survey scores are quite safe" - the male student said.
According to Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam - Chairman of the Council of Dinh Tien Hoang High School (Hanoi), removing the division of enrollment areas brings many advantages, helping students and parents to freely choose any school according to their wishes.
However, he also reminded students when choosing aspirations: "Without zoning, parents and students will find it difficult to estimate benchmark scores as before. Score fluctuations are possible and students must calculate to anticipate this.
In addition, Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam also said that there should be additional secondary criteria besides scores in admissions. Avoid cases where many students have to travel far to study even though the school is near home.
