The 10th grade exam in Ho Chi Minh City recently concluded with approximately 151,000 candidates. The Department of Education and Training announced that grading would take place from 3-9/6, with results expected after 12/6.

Middle school teachers and principals generally observed that the exam questions across all three subjects – Math, Literature, and English – featured familiar structures and questioning styles, with difficulty reduced by 20-30%.

Specifically, the first 14 English questions were "manageable" for most candidates, according to Bui Thuy Duong, an English teacher at Tran Van On Middle School. The difficulty gradually increased from questions 17-26 (fill in the blanks and true/false), becoming more challenging from questions 29-40 (finding the correct word form and sentence rewriting) to differentiate high-achieving students.

Duong estimated that students in central areas could easily score 7-8 points, while others would generally achieve a score of 6. The number of students scoring 9 or 10 points might be slightly higher than last year.

Regarding the Math exam, Truong Chi Dung, head of the Math department at Tran Huy Lieu Middle School, noted that the first three questions were essentially "free points" for candidates. Question 4 was of average difficulty, but students might be "trapped" when calculating the length and width of a house, potentially losing 0.25-0.5 points. For question 5, involving spatial geometry, students could lose 0.25-0.5 points if they forgot to add the base of a container or used the surface area of a sphere instead of a hemisphere. Questions 6 and 7c were designed for classification.

He predicted that most students would score 6-7 points, with more achieving 8-9 points than last year, though scores of 10 would remain rare, accounting for only about 1%.

For the Literature exam, Vo Kim Bao, a teacher at Nguyen Du Middle School, observed that reading comprehension questions were arranged by increasing levels of cognition and critical thinking. Students with good skills could apply answers from previous questions to subsequent ones; otherwise, they would struggle to achieve maximum points.

The paragraph and essay writing sections required candidates to demonstrate skills in developing, organizing, and providing logical evidence. He predicted common scores would be 6.5-7 points.

"Most students reported performing well, but an easy exam means higher scores overall, especially for top-tier schools in the former Ho Chi Minh City area," stated principal Dinh Phu Cuong of Nguyen Van Luong Middle School (Binh Phu ward).

Many teachers made similar predictions, but they had conflicting views on which school tiers would experience the most significant fluctuations in admission scores.

Candidates taking the 10th grade exam at Vo Truong Toan Middle School, Ho Chi Minh City, on 31/5. Photo: Thanh Tung

Cuong suggested that admission scores for top-tier schools could increase by 0.5-1 point, while Truong Chi Dung believed the increase would be between 0.25-1 point. For mid-tier schools (which required around 15-20 points last year), Cuong estimated no change, whereas Dung predicted fluctuations of approximately 0.5 points, either up or down.

Both agreed that admission scores for lower-tier schools would remain unchanged from last year, still requiring low or moderate scores to "fill" available spots.

However, Cao Duc Khoa, principal of Nguyen Du Middle School (Ben Thanh ward), and Pham Hong Danh, principal of Vinh Vien High School (Tan Son Nhi ward), predicted admission scores would increase by 1-2 points, with the most significant changes occurring in the mid- and lower-tier groups.

Danh explained that the "easier" exam could boost each student's score by approximately 0.5 points per subject (a total increase of 1.5 points), and with a larger number of candidates, this would likely push admission scores up by about 2 points compared to last year.

Ho Chi Minh City 10th Grade Admission Scores Over the Past Three Years

In recent years, Nguyen Thuong Hien High School has consistently led in admission scores, ranging from 23.5-25.5 points. Other schools in the top 10 typically required over 22 points, including Nguyen Huu Huan, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Phu Nhuan, Mac Dinh Chi, Le Quy Don, Nguyen Huu Cau, and Tran Phu High Schools.

In Binh Duong province, schools in Thuan An, Di An, Thu Dau Mot, and the former Tan Uyen area had higher admission requirements than the general average, with most requiring over 15 points.

In Ba Ria - Vung Tau, schools consistently requiring 5-7 points per subject included Vung Tau, Dinh Tien Hoang, Tran Nguyen Han, Nguyen Hue, Nguyen Khuyen, and Xuyen Moc High Schools. Conversely, several schools required less than three points per subject, such as Duong Bach Mai, Tran Van Quan, Ngo Quyen, Tran Phu, Nguyen Van Cu, and Phu My High Schools.

Le Nguyen