The Circular has many important new points, contributing to perfecting the legal corridor, improving the quality of exam organization, strengthening digital transformation and promoting international integration in the field of testing.
Circular No. 09/2026/TT-BGDDT has fully integrated the regulations on foreign language proficiency assessment exams previously issued in Circular No. 23/2017/TT-BGDDT dated September 29, 2017 of the Minister of Education and Training (amended and supplemented in Circular No. 24/2021/TT-BGDDT dated September 8, 2021) and regulations on Vietnamese proficiency assessment exams in Circular No. 27/2021/TT-BGDDT dated October 7, 2021 of the Minister of Education and Training promulgating the Regulation on Vietnamese proficiency assessment exams according to the Vietnamese Language Proficiency Framework for foreigners.
This integration contributes to creating more favorable conditions for units in the process of organizing exams, while minimizing the number of legal normative documents to be promulgated.
In addition to inheriting the contents, procedures and regulations that were previously stable, the new circular also clearly stipulates the comprehensive responsibility of units in organizing exams; requiring exam organizing units to issue Regulations on exam organization work at their units, ensuring core information such as: Regulations on organization, operation and linkage work; financial work; information disclosure work.
Circular No. 09/2026/TT-BGDĐT encourages and supports Vietnamese educational institutions to establish branches, open representative offices or implement educational programs abroad.
In addition, the Circular stipulates the strengthening of digital transformation, application of information technology in all stages of exam organization; providing exam organization solutions to ensure safety, objectivity, fairness and seriousness; clearly assigning responsibilities to departments participating in exam organization; ensuring exam questions are confidential before, during and after exam organization sessions.
Notably, the Circular allows affiliated units to expand the scale of exam organization (possibly organizing exams abroad), in line with the current trend of international integration.
At the same time, the Circular encourages and supports Vietnamese educational institutions to establish branches, open representative offices or implement educational programs abroad; promote cooperation, expand Vietnamese language teaching, spread Vietnamese cultural and traditional values abroad, especially in the Vietnamese community abroad (in the spirit of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW dated August 22, 2025 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training development), thereby creating conditions for educational institutions to organize Vietnamese language proficiency assessment exams abroad.
