On the afternoon of 15/7, the Ministry of Education and Training released the 2025 high school graduation exam score distributions for 12 subjects. Most were considered to have a positive distribution, according to testing experts and education administrators.

See the score distribution for 12 graduation exam subjects

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc, President of the University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, expressed surprise at the score distributions.

"After the exam, many candidates worried about the difficulty of the math and English tests, and I thought this year's score distributions would be much lower than last year's. But in reality, the distributions are quite good," Duc said.

Sharing the same view, Nguyen Boi Quynh, principal of Viet Duc High School, Hanoi, recounted her worry after the math and English exams ended. Even when the Ministry released the official answer key and some students at her school claimed to have scored a perfect 10 in math, she "didn't dare to believe it."

"When I saw the score distributions, I was very happy," she said.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc discusses the high school graduation exam score distributions on the afternoon of 15/7. Photo: Tran Hiep

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc discusses the high school graduation exam score distributions on the afternoon of 15/7. Photo: Tran Hiep

Dr. Tran Nam Dung, Vice Principal of the High School for Gifted Students, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, provided a more detailed analysis, noting that the math score distribution followed a standard normal distribution with a mean of 4.78, a median of 4.6, and a left skew with the peak around 4-4.5.

Out of over 1.12 million test takers, only a little over 3,300 achieved scores above 9—a very small number according to Dung. Over 500 candidates scored a perfect 10, meaning only one in every 2,000 achieved the highest possible score. Dung observed that the high scores were clearly differentiated.

Compared to previous years, this year's math score distribution is no longer skewed to the right, but closer to a standard distribution, according to a representative from the Ministry's score analysis team.

Similar observations were made about the English score distribution, which has eliminated the "saddle shape" with two peaks seen in previous years. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Thuy, a linguistics educator from the English Department of Hanoi University, explained that an ideal score distribution would have a peak at the midpoint (5/10) with slopes evenly distributed on both sides, indicating an even spread of scores.

Over 351,000 candidates took the English exam this year, about 1/3 of the number in previous years, as this subject is now "optional." The score distribution peaked around 5-5.25, with a mean of 5.38, slightly skewed to the right. 141 candidates achieved a perfect 10, and only a little over 30 failed (scores of 1 or below).

"This shows that the exam doesn't cause students to fail graduation, but it's not easy to get a perfect score either," Thuy said.

However, education experts also identified some issues in teaching and learning from the score distributions of the exam subjects.

Dung believes that only 12% of candidates scoring 7 or higher in math is "too low." Additionally, the 8% of candidates scoring 2.5 or lower is "also a problem," raising questions about general math instruction in high schools, as scores at this level mean that "students don't understand anything about math."

Duc agreed that the math exam was more difficult than in previous years, but the drop in the average score by 1.67, from 6.45 to 4.78, could also be due to candidates not paying attention to the sample test, not studying seriously, or not grasping the core concepts.

Regarding English, Duc is concerned about the 38% of candidates below average, although this group might perform better than the below-average group from last year due to a more difficult exam and higher output requirements, raised from A2 to B1 (from level two to level three, according to the six-level foreign language proficiency framework). He believes that with the aim of making English a second language in schools, the percentage of below-average scores in this subject needs to improve in the future.

With most universities still using high school graduation exam scores for admissions, and English included in most subject combinations, Thuy worries about the unfairness between candidates using exam scores and those with IELTS and other international certificates. Currently, most universities convert a 6.5 IELTS score to a 9-10 in English, while candidates with this IELTS level find it difficult to achieve an equivalent score on the graduation exam.

To prevent future candidates from being shocked by the differentiated exam, Duc suggests that the Ministry release sample tests with similar difficulty levels, and promote them early and continuously so that candidates and society understand the exam's objectives, which are not only for graduation assessment but also as a basis for university admissions.

"This year's exam is a wake-up call for students to study seriously and grasp the essence of the subjects," Duc said.

Tomorrow morning, the Ministry will announce the graduation exam scores for over 1.16 million candidates. Students can check their 2025 high school graduation exam scores at: https://diemthi.vnexpress.net.

After receiving their scores, candidates have 10 days to submit an appeal if they wish, with the deadline being 25/7. Candidates will receive their test score certificates, provisional graduation certificates, and high school transcripts no later than 22/7.

The registration, adjustment, and supplementation period for university admissions is from 16/7 to 5 PM on 28/7, with no limit on the number of adjustments. Candidates can pay the application fee online from 29/7 to 5 PM on 5/8.

Before applying, candidates can visit VnExpress's University Search page to see the fluctuations in benchmark scores over the years by major and university, as well as tuition fees. The system also suggests majors and universities that had benchmark scores close to the candidate's scores in each subject combination last year.

The 2025 university benchmark scores will be announced before 5 PM on 22/8.

Thanh Hang - Tam Le