From 6:00 am on March 7, a large number of candidates, parents, and students were present at the exam site of Hanoi National University, completing procedures for the first round of competency assessment exam in 2026.
Phung Anh Tuan - Tung Thien High School (Hanoi) traveled about 40km to the exam site. Tuan spent more than 1 month focusing on studying for the exam, setting a goal of over 100 points and intending to use the results to register for Hanoi National University of Education.
I think this exam has knowledge related to the high school program and the graduation exam later. I want to focus on taking the exam right from March and then, review for the high school graduation exam" - Tuan said.
Dr. Vuong Thi Phuong Thao, Deputy Director of the Institute of Digital Training and Testing, Vice Chairman of the Examination Council, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that the scale of the annual competency assessment exam is about 120,000 candidates, an increase of 30% compared to last year. In which, phase 1 takes place in 2 days, March 7-8, with 16,551 students registered to take the exam.
Our point of view when organizing the competency assessment exam is to always ensure a safe, accurate, fair and transparent exam" - Ms. Thao said.
The competency assessment exam of Vietnam National University, Hanoi is one of the two largest separate exams in the country, with about 60,000-90,000 candidates each year. To date, more than 100 universities have used the results of the competency assessment exam in admission consideration.
The exam takes place on a computer, including 3 parts: Mathematics and data processing (Quantitative thinking); Literature - Language ( Qualitative thinking); Science or English (Optional). Total score is 150, test time is 195 minutes.
Ms. Thao said that the structure of the competency assessment exam is built according to the 2018 General Education Program, each year it is strengthened with more application-oriented questions, assessing the capacity and thinking of candidates rather than just focusing on checking knowledge.
The exam question development process includes many steps such as developing raw questions, testing, evaluating and screening. Only questions that fully meet the standards are included in the exam question bank, in order to ensure reliability and avoid rote learning.
Through the testing and screening steps, we also assess the reliability of the exam paper. Every year, the question bank continues to be reviewed through the test results of candidates. Questions that are discussed a lot on social networks or show signs of inappropriateness after testing will be removed from the question bank. This is to ensure the true nature of the exam, which is competency assessment" - Ms. Thao said.
Ms. Thao advised candidates, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and the Institute of Digital Education and Testing not to organize any tutoring courses. The only official document is the review guide published in coordination with the Publishing House of Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Candidates should refer to the structure of the exam and the published sample exam questions to make tutoring materials, and study and prepare themselves. Students need to learn carefully before participating in tutoring courses to avoid wasting time and costs.
To achieve good results, candidates need to maintain a calm, confident mentality and have a reasonable allocation of time during the exam to complete all questions" - Ms. Thao advised candidates.
