Many schools abandon blocks C00, A00 in training majors
Many universities are expected to strongly adjust the admission combination in the 2026 enrollment season, including removing blocks C00 and A00 in a series of majors, and expanding enrollment methods outside the high school graduation exam scores.
University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi is expected to abolish C00 combination admissions in 11 majors, including majors such as Journalism, Public Relations, Psychology,...
Currently, the C00 combination is only applied in a number of majors such as Political Science, Social Work, Cinema and Mass Art, History, Archivology, Linguistics, Anthropology, Information - Library, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Literature, Vietnamese Studies and Sociology.
Similarly, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law said that in 2026, it will not use combinations C00 and A00 in admission based on high school graduation exam scores. Instead, the school will build new combinations with two common compulsory subjects: Literature and Foreign Language for the group of law majors, English; or Math and English for the remaining majors. The third subject is chosen by candidates among the subjects of the 2018 General Education Program. The school affirms that it will still calculate combinations with History and Geography to ensure the rights of candidates studying these subjects.
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance are also expected to no longer use A00 and C00 combinations in most training majors. Instead, schools are building new admission combinations, in which each combination has Mathematics or Literature, flexibly combined with subjects such as English, Physics, Biology, Informatics, History or Geography, depending on the specifics of each major group.
Reasons for removing traditional admission combinations
Before the adjustments of universities, many candidates expressed concern and worry about whether their chances of being admitted will decrease or not.
At the 2026 enrollment counseling program that just took place, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Hong Son - Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi shared that the labor market requires students to have foreign language skills in addition to in-depth knowledge of the industry. Therefore, many schools have adjusted in the direction of reducing the number of C00 combinations, increasing combinations using foreign languages, mainly English. In addition, this adjustment is also related to the Government's new policy on making English a second language in schools.
The Ministry of Education and Training has also issued a project to make English a second language in schools in the period 2026-2030, with a vision to 2045. Therefore, the learning environment in schools is not only a professional learning environment in English, including an environment for exchange, exchange, and activities in universities towards the goal of using English as a second language.
The adjustment of Vietnam National University Hanoi was calculated from about 2-3 years ago. The goal is to achieve about 30% of subjects in the training program being taught entirely in English" - Mr. Son said.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Nhu Hue - Deputy Head of the Management and Training, Training Department, Academy of Journalism and Propaganda said that the academy is reviewing and amending training programs to be in time for enrollment in 2026. In which, 24/32 training programs will strengthen English modules into specialized sections that teach English or partly teach in English into the school's training program.
According to the 2026 regular university admission plan, although not enrolling in block C00, the academy plans to continue to use 16 admission combinations, most of which have English or allow replacing English with international certificates.
Some combinations that previously had Informatics subjects have also been adjusted, replacing them with Geography subjects to suit the new general education program.
This is a new point. When introducing Geography into the enrollment combination, students studying Literature, History, and Geography have complete opportunities. Some combinations have Literature or Geography, History or Geography,..." - Ms. Hue said and affirmed that the adjustment does not reduce candidates' chances of winning. Conversely, with the diversification of combinations, students have more opportunities.
