This year marked the first time the high school graduation exam included nine subjects in a single session. Each subject had 48 different test versions, a record high. All exams were multiple-choice, featuring various question types: multiple-answer, true/false, and short-answer.

With students remaining in the same exam room, a single elective subject could be administered across both time slots. To maintain security, the number of test versions for elective subjects doubled compared to previous years, evenly distributed between the two sessions.

Bao Han, a student at District 1 Continuing Education Center in Ho Chi Minh City, took the English and physics exams, aiming for the highest possible scores.

Han admitted to struggling with the social commentary essay in the literature exam, managing only four pages despite having extra time. The math exam proved difficult and lengthy, forcing her to skip several short-answer questions.

"I didn't achieve my target score of 7 or above in math, so I'll try my best to get good scores in the final two subjects," Han said.

Students react to challenging math exam

In Hanoi, Nguyen Hoang Linh Chi, taking the exam at Luong The Vinh Secondary and High School, expressed anxiety after not achieving her desired 8 in math.

Chi plans to apply to the English Language Education program at Hanoi National University of Education using two combinations of subjects: D01 (math, literature, English) and A01 (math, physics, English). Consequently, she took physics and English as her elective subjects on Tuesday.

"I already have an IELTS score of 7.0, so I'm not too worried about English. But for physics, I need to score 9.5 to reach my overall target of 27," Chi explained. "This high goal puts a lot of pressure on me."

Sharing similar sentiments, Thanh Phuong from Phu Tho province worried that Tuesday's exams would be as difficult as Monday's math exam. Phuong said she performed well in the literature exam on the first day but felt discouraged after the math exam.

"In the short-answer section with six questions, I could only answer two, and one of those was incorrect," Phuong recounted. On Tuesday, she took history and English as her elective subjects, with English being part of her university application subject combination.

Initially, Phuong planned to apply to the National Economics University as her first choice. With an IELTS score of 7.0, equivalent to a 9.5 in English, and an additional 0.75 points added when combined with the graduation exam score as per the university's regulations, she felt confident. However, after Monday's exam, she reconsidered her options.

"I haven't researched many universities, so I don't know how IELTS scores are converted or added to the overall score," Phuong shared. "Therefore, I still have to give my best in today's English exam."

According to the schedule, the first elective subject exam began at 7:35 a.m., and the second at 8:40 a.m., each lasting 50 minutes.

The Ministry of Education and Training reported that history was the most popular elective subject, with over 484,000 students choosing it, followed by geography with nearly 480,000. English and physics had similar numbers, with around 350,000 students each.

Economic and legal education was chosen by 247,000 students, and chemistry by 241,000. All other subjects had fewer than 100,000 students. The least popular were the two new subjects, technology and informatics, with a combined total of approximately 10,000 students.

How scores are calculated for the 2025 high school graduation exam

Over 26,700 students under the old curriculum (2006) took the natural sciences or social sciences exam on Tuesday morning. They will take the English exam in the afternoon.

High school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City on 26/6. Photo: Quynh Tran

This year, nearly 2,500 exam centers with over 50,000 exam rooms were set up nationwide, involving approximately 200,000 officials, teachers, staff, and security personnel. Because the exam caters to both old and new curriculums, local authorities emphasized training for exam proctors due to differing regulations for the two groups.

This year also marked the first time the Ministry of Education and Training transmitted exam papers to localities via the Government Cipher Committee's encrypted and secure channels.

A Ministry representative stated that the overall approach was to adhere closely to the curriculum while allowing for differentiation to assist universities in their admissions process.

On Monday, approximately 7,000 students were absent, and 20 were dismissed for using mobile phones or unauthorized materials. The 2025 high school graduation exam results will be announced on 16/7.

Reporting team