From about 6 am on May 24, the area in front of the gate of the University of Science (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) was crowded with candidates and parents. Many students took the opportunity to review documents and check papers before entering the exam room.
This is the last competency assessment exam in 2026 organized by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, attracting about 172,000 candidates to register for the exam to increase their chances of admission to universities.
Vo Thi Dong Anh, a student at Hung Vuong High School, said that after participating in the first phase, she continued to register for the second phase to improve her results.
In the first phase, I took the exam with a spirit of trying my hand, and the second phase was the last chance, so I was quite nervous and worried. I mainly reviewed the key theoretical parts of grades 10 and 11 and made questions to get used to the type of test," Dong Anh shared.
The female student said that the competency assessment exam has a very large amount of knowledge, so the allocation of exam time is important.
Sitting for too long on one question will take a lot of time, so I learned from experience to prioritize doing easy questions first," she said.
Dong Anh plans to use the exam results to apply for the Tourism Management major of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. She also registered for some other schools to increase her chances of admission.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Pham Long Vu, a student of Thang Long High School, set a target of about 800 points to be admitted to the University of Information Technology - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.
I took the first phase and got about 650 points, so I decided to take the second phase to improve my results. I have been reviewing since the beginning of the school year and have focused on practicing more questions in the past month," Long Vu said.
The male student said that the experience learned after the first exam is to prioritize easy questions and allocate time reasonably. "The exam has quite a few long reading comprehension questions, so if you don't keep track of the time, it will be difficult to do it in time," he shared.
Also participating in the exam, Duong Nguyen Hai Nam, a student of Nguyen Huu Canh High School, said that he was quite stressed before the exam day because he was not really satisfied with the results of phase 1.
I'm not sure about the previous exam scores, so I decided to register for another exam. I mainly study on my own, make exam questions and review old knowledge to prepare for the exam," Hai Nam said.
The male student plans to use the competency assessment results to apply for the Automotive Technology major of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.
The second round of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam was held in 15 provinces and cities, including: Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, An Giang, Can Tho and Ca Mau.
Previously, the first round of competency assessment exam held on April 5, 2026 recorded more than 133,000 candidates taking the exam. The exam was organized in 15 provinces and cities with 57 exam clusters, 119 exam sites and nearly 10,000 invigilators.
According to statistics, the score distribution in phase 1 is in a near-standard distribution form, both average and mid-range scores reach 682 points, standard deviation of 141.2. About 30% of candidates achieve below 600 points, 55% below 700 points and about 6% achieve from 900 points or higher. Valedictorian achieves 1,098 points.
The competency assessment exam of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City includes 120 objective multiple-choice questions with many choices, the exam time is 150 minutes, and is organized in the form of paper exams.
The exam structure includes three parts: Language use (60 questions, including 30 Vietnamese and 30 English questions); Mathematics (30 questions); Scientific thinking (30 questions).
