On September 17, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) announced a draft circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the MOET circulars promulgating regulations on determining the number of enrollment, training programs, enrollment and college training for preschool, university and postgraduate education.
4 groups of adjustments to ensure uniformity and fairness in enrollment
Mr. Nguyen Tien Thao - Director of the Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training, said that in the period 2022-2026, adjustments to enrollment such as abolishing early admission, equivalent conversion, limiting the number of methods, regulations on input thresholds and maximum bonus points have created positive changes. In particular, for exams with official conversion tables, the score gap with the high school graduation exam channel has decreased from 2.6 to 1.2 points. However, the equivalence is not uniform, statistics show that over 40% of the total number of training programs using two methods still have score margins of 3 points or more.
Therefore, the draft focuses on four groups of adjustments: Reducing and standardizing admission methods; not using bonus points other than priority points according to policies; clearly defining the source of admission and input thresholds; completing the conditions for articulation admission from vocational high school, intermediate level, college to university. The draft also requires standardizing the deviation between combinations, increasing the exploitation of existing data and not requiring candidates to return papers and certificates on the system.
The overarching spirit is that enrollment must go hand in hand with quality standards, verified data and accountability. Candidates are reduced the burden of monitoring too many admission methods, but are still allowed to use academic results, exams and appropriate certificates according to the regulations of each method" - Mr. Thao emphasized.
Reasons for tightening the admission method
In the draft, the Ministry of Education and Training set out a roadmap from 2027 to apply 3 methods and from 2028 to reduce to 1 method of registration for admission to each training major, each training program; direct admission and sent admission are not included in this limit. At the training institution level, the draft still stipulates the use of a maximum of 5 methods.
According to Mr. Thao, this is a roadmap for each sector to choose the most appropriate assessment method, not a policy of requiring all schools and sectors across the country to use a single result.
Clarifying this adjustment, Mr. Thao cited data that from 2022-2026, only 36.4% of the total number of training programs had official comparison bases; transcript scores in the same major code were far higher than high school graduation exam scores; over 2,000 training programs enrolled with differences between methods from 3 points or more. When the scales are not really equivalent, dividing one major into multiple admission gates can make candidates with the same ability treated differently.
Therefore, reducing methods is to expand equal opportunities, not to reduce access opportunities. Each method must ensure that all qualified candidates can participate, clearly announce criteria and use a common score scale.
Training institutions are responsible for selecting methods suitable to the input requirements of the program; separate exam results, transcripts or certificates can still be used when structured transparently in the announced method" - Mr. Thao emphasized.
The draft is in the process of being consulted; the Ministry of Education and Training affirms that it will continue to assess the impact, listen to candidates, training institutions and experts before issuing.
