Anxiously waiting for official statistics on the number of aspirations
Regulations of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, students registering for the 10th grade high school entrance exam in the 2026 - 2027 school year online through the city's entrance portal. Students are allowed to register and adjust their aspirations for the 10th grade entrance exam before 24:00 on April 17, 2026. After this time, the registered aspirations will not be changed.
Lao Dong's records on the last day of aspiration registration - April 17, many parents and students said that the registration system operated stably and smoothly, convenient for searching and adjusting aspirations (if any).
Although she has completed the registration with her child, Ms. Ngo Dieu Ly - a parent of a student at To Hoang Secondary School (Bach Mai ward, Hanoi) still regularly goes to the system to update the number of aspirations from schools. "The system does not experience congestion, my child and I can easily perform operations to view aspiration statistics or change registered aspirations" - Ms. Dieu Ly said.
Placing the first wish for her child at Viet Duc High School, Ms. Dieu Ly is anxiously waiting for the official registration number. This is one of the schools with the highest rate of first wish registration in Hanoi. "The number of wishes this year is more unpredictable" - Ms. Dieu Ly commented.
Ms. Pham Hong Nhung - a parent of a student at Phu Do Secondary School (Tu Liem ward, Hanoi) - is also anxiously waiting for official statistics on the number of aspirations. Ms. Nhung's child placed aspiration 1 at Xuan Phuong High School and aspiration 2 at Dai Mo High School. "I am quite worried that there will be changes on the last day because Dai Mo High School has a fairly high number of registrations" - Ms. Hong Nhung confided.
Placing nguyện vọng 1 in Hong Thai High School, nguyện vọng 2 in Tho Xuan High School, Doan Do Ngoc Lam - a student of Lien Ha Secondary School (O Dien commune, Hanoi) is quite worried when the number of nguyện vọng has increased many times this year. "In 2025, Tho Xuan High School has a total number of registrations for 3 nguyện vọng of nearly 1,800. However, this year it has reached 6,000, making me worried" - Ngoc Lam confided.
This year, Hanoi has about 147,000 high school graduates, an increase of 20,000 students compared to last year. The target for public 10th grade is more than 78,300, reaching about 55%.
Advice for students
Dr. Tran Thanh Nam - Vice Rector of the University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi - assessed that the 10th grade entrance exam is always a stressful exam, creating a lot of pressure for parents and students. In which, part of the reason comes from achievement thinking, the belief that only a few schools are "good schools".
Students may experience some psychological problems such as erratic emotions, reduced concentration, poor academic performance, eating disorders, or sitting and studying for too long but ineffectively.
Mr. Nam recommends that parents need to maintain calm psychology, avoid letting anxiety affect the child's mood. Parents need to encourage and acknowledge their children's efforts and attempts instead of mentioning the risk of failing grade 3. As for students, it is necessary to apply the principle of cyclical learning: Focus for 25 minutes, rest for 5 minutes; after four cycles, you should rest longer, exercise lightly or participate in relaxing activities. This learning method helps the brain maintain better performance than sitting still for hours. Students should develop scientific review plans, regularly review knowledge after rest to increase their ability to remember.
Dr. Le Kim Anh - Principal of Tran Duy Hung Secondary School especially noted that students need to have a smart review strategy, not study scattered but focus on the focus, and practice exam questions intentionally. In the process of reviewing, recording mistakes to draw experience is very important.
Dr. Le Kim Anh also reminded students to manage time reasonably, balance between studying and resting, pay attention to physical and mental health, and maintain stable psychology. "Students should not stay up too late after 12 o'clock, need to study disciplinedly and ensure adequate nutrition with groups of substances such as green vegetables, animal protein, plant protein and vitamins" - she said.
Statistics from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training show that after 5 days of registration, the total number of students who have registered their 10th grade exam aspirations is 114,195 (accounting for 77.9% of the total number of students after secondary school in the 2025-2026 school year). According to statistics, some non-specialized public high schools have a high total number of registered aspirations (including NV1, NV2 and NV3) including: Bac Luong Son High School; Tu Lap High School; Dai Mo High School... Recorded until about 2:30 pm on April 17, the number of aspirations registered for Bac Luong Son High School reached over 7,500 applications, equivalent to a competition ratio of 1/14. Top 1 schools in Hanoi such as Yen Hoa High School, Kim Lien, Le Quy Don - Ha Dong, Phan Dinh Phung, Viet Duc... have registration numbers fluctuating in the range of 1,800 - nearly 3,000.
Many adjustments at the 10th grade exam in Ho Chi Minh City
The entrance exam to 10th grade in the 2026 - 2027 school year in Ho Chi Minh City will take place on two days, June 1st and 2nd, with many notable adjustments. In 2026, the 10th grade entrance exam will continue to apply two enrollment methods including entrance exams and admission consideration. In which, entrance exams are still the main form for public high schools. Candidates take three compulsory subjects including Mathematics, Literature (120 minutes/subject) and Foreign Language (90 minutes). Candidates registering for specialized and integrated classes will take additional subjects accordingly in 150 minutes.
This year, Ho Chi Minh City has more than 169,000 9th grade students, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training (GDĐT) aims to enroll about 118,000 students in public 10th grade, equivalent to about 70%. The remaining students will choose other directions such as continuing education, vocational schools or private schools. One of the most notable changes in this year's enrollment is the stricter regulations on the distance from residence to school when registering aspirations. The online enrollment system will automatically calculate the distance from the student's residence (based on identification data) to the registered schools, and at the same time issue warnings if it exceeds the permissible limit. In which, the maximum distance is 10km for the Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong areas before the merger and 13km for the Ba Ria - Vung Tau area before the merger.
Mr. Nguyen Vo Dang Khoa - Deputy Head of the Department of Testing and Education Quality Accreditation, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training (GDĐT) - said that in case students still choose schools that are too far away, schools must work directly with parents and students; review and ask students if they have registered incorrectly or mistakenly, and at the same time guide adjustments if necessary. This year's 10th grade enrollment process continues to be divided into two phases. In the initial phase, students register three aspirations for public high schools and participate in the common exam. After announcing the results, if there is still a shortage of quotas due to candidates not enrolling, the city can organize additional enrollment. The subjects are students who have taken the exam but were not admitted to all three initial aspirations. The entire enrollment process in 2026 is carried out online, from exam registration, aspiration adjustment to result lookup. Students are not required to have a level 2 electronic identification account. Just having full data on the education sector's system, students are still granted private accounts to participate in enrollment. Chan Phuc
