High school graduates in Ho Chi Minh City taking the 2025 high school graduation exam. Photo: Quynh Tran

The high school graduation exam took place on 26-27/6, with 1.14 million students participating under the new curriculum. Students were required to take two compulsory subjects: literature and mathematics, along with two elective subjects chosen from: chemistry, physics, biology, history, geography, economics and law, computer science, technology (agriculture, industry), and foreign languages (7 languages).

Literature was the only subject with an essay-based exam. The exam consisted of two sections: reading comprehension (4 points) and writing (6 points).

The reading comprehension section used an excerpt from Nguyen Minh Chau’s "Different Skies," asking questions about the role of specific details and the effect of literary devices.

The writing section included two questions, both based on the same literary work. The literary analysis question required students to analyze the character Le’s feelings for Son. The social commentary question asked students to discuss the theme "every hometown sky is also the sky of the Fatherland," drawing on their understanding of the country's current transformative period.

Many teachers noted that the exam closely followed the structure of the sample exam released by the ministry of education and training late last year. The question types adhered to the cognitive levels outlined in the sample exam's matrix. At the time, teachers predicted that scores would commonly fall between 6 and 7.

Formula for calculating 2025 high school graduation exam scores:

Students with questions about their scores can submit a request for review from 16/7 to 25/7. Those applying to universities can register on the Ministry’s system from 16/7 to 28/7, with no limit on the number of adjustments.

Prior to this, students could visit VnExpress’s university search page to view fluctuations in admission scores over the years by major and university. The system also suggested majors and universities from the previous year with admission scores close to the student’s current score for each subject combination.

University admission scores for 2025 will be announced before 5 pm on 22/8.

Last year, the average literature score for over one million students was 7.23, with 8 being the most common score. Nationwide, two students achieved a perfect 10; 68 students failed.

Thanh Hang