According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training (GDĐT), in the 2025-2026 school year, the whole city has 169,602 9th grade students graduating from secondary school. Of which, 151,269 students registered to take the 10th grade public school entrance exam.
Candidates take 3 compulsory subjects including Literature, Mathematics and Foreign Language. In which, Literature and Mathematics have a test time of 120 minutes, Foreign Language 90 minutes.
For candidates registering for specialized or integrated classes, in addition to 3 common subjects, they must also take the specialized or integrated exam in the afternoon of June 2. The specialized and integrated exams have a duration of 150 minutes.
In the 2026-2027 school year, Ho Chi Minh City has 4 specialized high schools directly under the Department of Education and Training: Le Hong Phong Specialized High School, Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School, Hung Vuong Specialized High School and Le Quy Don Specialized High School.
In addition to the specialized system, the city continues to enroll integrated English programs at 10 public high schools including: Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School, Bui Thi Xuan High School, Luong The Vinh High School, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, Saigon Practical High School, Mac Dinh Chi High School, Nguyen Thuong Hien High School, Gia Dinh High School, Phu Nhuan High School and Nguyen Huu Huan High School.
According to the plan of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, the whole city has 242 exam sites, including 226 regular 10th grade exam sites and 16 specialized exam sites. Candidates will come to the exam site to participate in regulations activities on May 31 before entering the official exam sessions.
This year, the total enrollment target for 10th grade public schools in Ho Chi Minh City is more than 118,000 students.
The city also added 5 new public high schools to the 10th grade enrollment system this year to increase learning places for students, including: Phan Van Hon High School (Dong Hung Thuan ward), Thoai Ngoc Hau High School (Tan Phu ward), Vo Nguyen Giap High School (Phu My ward), Ha Huy Tap High School (Di An ward) and Le Thi Rieng Primary, Secondary and High School (Thoi An ward).
This year, Ho Chi Minh City has 1,515 students directly admitted to 10th grade public schools. Including students who won national and international prizes; ethnic minority students with very few people; disabled students and students of ethnic minority boarding schools according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
Regarding the exam questions, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that the exam questions continue to be built according to the 2018 General Education Program. The content of the questions focuses on assessing the ability to apply knowledge to practice, limiting rote learning.
The exam subjects are oriented to enhance practicality, reading comprehension ability, logical thinking and problem solving. Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training also announced sample exams for students to get acquainted with the new exam structure.
Regarding aspiration registration, students can register a maximum of 3 regular 10th grade aspirations, 2 specialized class aspirations and 3 integrated class aspirations. The entire registration process is carried out online on the city's enrollment system.
After the initial registration phase, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training recorded about 45,000 student aspiration adjustments in the period from May 4 to 8. Many top high schools in the central area continue to have high competition rates.
According to regulations, the admission score is the total score of 3 exam papers along with priority and encouragement points if any. The condition for admission is that candidates must participate in all exam papers according to regulations and no exam paper is scored 0.
From June 3rd to June 9th, the Department will organize exam marking, summarize exam marking work and compare exam results. After this period, the Department will announce exam scores, benchmark scores and supplementary recruitment plans (if any).
The supplementary admission category only applies to students who have participated in the public 10th grade entrance exam but have not been admitted to the registered aspirations.
In recent years, supplementary admissions have been seen as a solution to help schools recruit more missing quotas, while creating more opportunities for students who need to study in public schools.
