According to the Ministry of Education and Training's regulations, starting in 2025, the formula for calculating admission scores for public non-specialized 10th grade is standardized nationwide. The total score is the sum of Math, Literature, and a third subject, with no weighting applied and a maximum score of 30.

The 10th-grade entrance exams were mostly held in the first half of June. Many localities have already announced their admission thresholds.

Three days ago, Dak Lak province announced its first-round admission scores. Ethnic minority students needed between 3.5 and 10.5 points, while other students needed between 2.5 and 19.5.

Hai Ba Trung High School (in Buon Ho town) set its minimum score at 2.5, approximately 0.8 points per subject. Additionally, 11 out of 50 high schools had admission thresholds below 5, including Krong Bong (2.75 points), Cao Ba Quat (3.75), Phan Dang Luu (3.75), Cu M'gar (4.5), and Le Huu Trac (4.25). Dozens of schools set their entrance requirements below 10.

Nam Dan 2 High School in Nghe An province also had a minimum score of 2.5. This was the supplementary admission threshold (second round), announced in early July, a decrease of 7 points compared to the first round. So far, this is the lowest 10th-grade admission score nationwide.

In Lai Chau, among 22 public non-specialized high schools, Dao San High School (in Phong Tho district) is expected to have the lowest admission threshold at 4.75.

Quang Ninh province also has several high schools with low thresholds: Binh Lieu High School at 4.6, Dong Trieu at 5.5, and Hai Dao at 6.6.

In Quang Nam province, among 48 public non-specialized high schools, seven set their admission thresholds below 10, including Duy Xuyen, Sao Nam, Nguyen Duy Hieu, Au Co, Nguyen Van Troi, Kham Duc, and Huynh Thuc Khang. Kham Duc High School had the lowest threshold at 8.85 for the three subjects.

Meanwhile, 26 out of 44 public high schools in Binh Dinh province had admission thresholds below 10. Tran Quang Dieu High School had the lowest, at 5 points for three subjects, meaning students with an average of 1.6 points per subject were admitted.

Similarly, Dong Nai, Thanh Hoa, and Thai Nguyen provinces all have schools with admission thresholds between 7.95 and 9.5 for the three subjects.

Students in Quang Ninh taking the 10th-grade entrance exam in 2025. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper

Le Thi Thanh Xuan, Director of the Dak Lak Department of Education and Training, explained the low admission scores are due to two reasons. First, the province has a high percentage of students admitted to public high schools, around 80%. Second, students in schools with admission scores between 2 and 4 are mainly ethnic minorities who face many difficulties in their studies.

Low 10th-grade admission scores were also anticipated in Nghe An and Quang Nam. In Nghe An this year, nearly 40,000 students took the 10th-grade exam, a decrease of 5,000 compared to last year, while the quota remained unchanged (32,000). Quang Nam saw a decrease of 6,000 test-takers, but the number of places in public 10th grade increased from 80% to 86%.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, Deputy Director of the Quang Nam Department of Education and Training, suggested the low admission scores might also be due to this being the first year of the 10th-grade exam under the new curriculum, and students are not yet familiar with the exam format.

However, Mr. Nam said the admission threshold of a school should not be equated with the quality of its incoming students.

"Low admission scores do not mean that the students are weak or the school is of low quality," he said. "We consider the average admission score of a school. Some have quite good entrance scores, but the low scores of students at the bottom of the accepted list can lead to a low admission threshold for the school."

Nguyen Tien Dung, Head of the Secondary Education Department of the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, agreed.

In fact, at Nam Dan 2 High School, only one student had the minimum score of 2.5. The average score of admitted students at this school is over 15. Across Nghe An province, the average scores for Literature, Math, and Foreign Language are 7.17, 5.66, and 5.06, respectively.

In Dak Lak, Ms. Xuan acknowledged that the quality of education in schools with low admission thresholds needs more attention in the coming time to contribute to improving the overall quality of the province.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training's regulations on lower and upper secondary school admissions, starting this year, localities can choose entrance exams, academic record evaluations, or a combination of both for 10th-grade admissions. Entrance exams consist of Math, Literature, and a third subject (or a combined test). This third subject is chosen from those assessed by numerical scores, but the same subject cannot be chosen for more than three consecutive years.

59 out of 63 provinces and cities held entrance exams. Most chose English as the third subject, except for Ha Giang, which chose the integrated subject of History and Geography.

Ca Mau, Gia Lai, Vinh Long, and Lam Dong provinces used academic record evaluations for general admissions.

Hang Le - Tran Hoa