Benchmark scores for top schools may increase
Enrollment for 10th grade of public high schools in the 2026 - 2027 school year, no longer conditions for permanent residence, enrollment zoning. Each candidate is allowed to register a maximum of 3 aspirations for 3 public high schools, and cannot 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.
Nguyen Thu Giang - a student of To Hoang Secondary School (Bach Mai ward, Hanoi) - plans to still keep nguyện vọng 1 which is Viet Duc High School, only more than 1km from home; nguyện vọng 2 and 3, she is considering Dong Da High School and Do Muoi High School.
Thu Giang said that before, she could not register for Dong Da High School even though her house was only more than 2km away due to the regulations on enrollment areas. The removal of zoning helps her have more choices, but she is also worried that the benchmark scores of top schools will increase, so she is considering nguyện vọng 2 to ensure safety.
From the perspective of an education manager, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy - Principal of Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School (Ba Dinh ward) - is worried that abolishing the condition of having a permanent residence in Hanoi when registering for the 10th grade exam (only needing to reside in Hanoi) may increase pressure on high schools. Candidates need to carefully consider when registering, because if the number of candidates is too large and the quota is limited, they may still fail all 3 aspirations.
With the exam schedule pushed up 2 weeks earlier than in previous years, this will be the sprint time for schools to both ensure the teaching program and implement the plan to review and train students for the advanced exam. Ms. Thuy advises 9th grade students to focus on consolidating basic knowledge, practicing learning skills and being proactive in the review process. Learning needs to be aimed at understanding the nature of the problem, developing thinking ability, not just learning to cope with the exam.
Need fundamental and long-term solutions
Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam - Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology - acknowledged the efforts of Hanoi City in reducing enrollment pressure this year.
According to him, the new regulations in 10th grade enrollment have positive and open points, when families proactively have the right to choose a suitable school. But currently, the quality between general schools is not uniform. Therefore, many parents may have difficulty in setting aspirations that are both suitable for students' abilities and ensure the opportunity to be admitted to public schools.
From that reality, he believes that when zoning is abolished, the city still needs to have a mechanism to prioritize students studying near their residence. This not only helps parents feel more secure but also contributes to reducing travel pressure and traffic congestion in urban areas.
He suggested that each school can determine a priority enrollment area based on geographical distance. Thanks to positioning technology, management agencies can zone a specific radius around the school to determine the priority student group.
Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam said that in addition to exam scores, the distance from accommodation to school can be considered as an additional factor in admission consideration. Students who achieve the minimum score but are too far from school should also be oriented towards other aspirations that are more suitable for their residential area.
In the long term, according to Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, the most fundamental solution to reduce the pressure of 10th grade enrollment in Hanoi is to improve and uniformize the quality of education between schools.
