The 2025 high school graduation exam is the first year applied according to the 2018 General Education Program, with many innovations in form and content.
This makes many students worried, especially in using the results for university admission.
Hoang Thuy Trang - a 12th grade student in District 1 - said that since the beginning of June, her school schedule has been almost full with review classes at school in the morning, extra classes in the afternoon and self-reading in the evening.
"It's very stressful, because I not only take the exam to graduate, but also get the results to apply to university," Thuy Trang shared.
Similarly, Nguyen Minh Quan - another 12th grade student - said that he had taken the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment test, but the results were not very good.
"I planned to apply to the University of Natural Sciences - Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City based on my ability assessment scores, but the results were not as expected, now I have to try harder in the graduation exam," Minh Quan said.
Minh Quan admitted that he was under stress and pressure before the exam, due to changes in the admission of universities.
"If last year, participating in early admission could determine admission to some schools based on competency assessment test scores or academic records, but this year there is no longer early admission. I was really worried," Minh Quan confided.
Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City - said that this year's high school graduation exam, the city has 99,578 candidates registered to take the exam, an increase of 8,891 candidates compared to last year. Of which, 97,940 candidates took the exam under the 2018 general education program and 1,638 candidates under the 2006 general education program.
The city has arranged 171 exam locations with a total of 4,242 exam rooms. Of which, there are 168 exam scores with 4,180 exam rooms for candidates under the 2018 Program and 3 exam scores with 62 exam rooms for candidates under the 2006 Program.
Each exam location is arranged with 3 reserve rooms to handle arising situations. All exam rooms must ensure a minimum area of 30m2/room, with 24 exam tables/room arranged in accordance with regulations. The security and storage system is fully equipped with a security iron cabinet, a 2-layer locking system and sealing according to standards.
Mobilized 855 officers of the exam score management board, 12,726 supervisors to review the exam (an increase of 1,409 compared to the previous year), 2,394 officers to serve the exam score, 513 police officers on duty at the exam scores, 92 officers of the exam star printing board and expected 300 officers of the transportation board and handover of the exam questions.
According to Mr. Quoc, the department has also taken carefully supported candidates in remote and island areas such as ensuring that Binh Khanh ferries operate 24/7 with 4 special trips during peak hours, arranging concentrated motels for candidates in Thanh An area (Can Gio district) and bus pick-up and drop-off services.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, this year's exam has more than 1.16 million candidates nationwide registered to take the exam, an increase of about 100,000 students compared to 2024, of which about 25,000 students took the exam under the 2006 program.
