High school graduation exam score jumps 7.65 points after review

A specialized high school student's biology score increased from 1.1 to 8.75 after a marking error was discovered during a review.

A representative from the Quality Management Department of the Lao Cai Department of Education and Training reported on August 13th that a specialized high school student, aspiring to study medicine, applied for a review after receiving a biology score of only 1.1.

Following standard review procedures, the committee suspected the student had mistakenly filled in the wrong exam code. After verifying the student's seating position and exam distribution process, the department confirmed the student had completed exam code 0430 but incorrectly filled in 0403 on the answer sheet.

Proctors are not permitted to handle exam papers after submission. They only compare the exam code on the submission slip with the student's answer sheet. Since these matched, the error went unnoticed.

The department consulted with the Quality Management Department of the Ministry of Education and Training and received approval to correct the error. The student's answer sheet was updated with the correct code and rescanned. The final score was 8.75, a 7.65 point increase.

This is the largest point increase after review reported for the 2025 high school graduation exam.

The Lao Cai student's original biology score was 1.1.

Over 18,300 students from Lao Cai (including former Yen Bai province) took the 2025 high school graduation exam. The graduation rate was 99.1%. Over 260 perfect scores of 10 were recorded, with an average score of 5.92, ranking Lao Cai 26th out of 34 provinces and cities.

Aside from this case, 350 other exam papers in the province underwent review, but most saw no score changes.