Proposed tightening of admission thresholds for education and health/pharmacy majors if using academic transcripts

Applicants to education, health/pharmacy, and law majors using academic transcripts or competency assessments are still expected to meet the annual national high school graduation exam floor score, which will not be fixed.

This content is part of a draft circular amending and supplementing university admission regulations, released by the Ministry on 17/9.

Specifically, for teacher training, health, and law programs that admit students based on national high school graduation exam scores, the Ministry will announce annual admission thresholds (floor scores) depending on the score distribution, similar to the current practice.

If universities use other admission methods, applicants must meet the Ministry's annual floor score and achieve an excellent academic performance in 12th grade. Some specific majors require a good academic performance in 12th grade, including physical education, music education, fine arts education, early childhood education at college level, nursing, preventive medicine, midwifery, dental prosthetics, medical laboratory technology, medical imaging technology, and rehabilitation techniques.

For example, if the Ministry sets the floor score for the medical doctor major this year at 22/30 for the three-subject national high school graduation exam combination, an applicant applying to this major using academic transcripts must achieve both an excellent 12th-grade academic performance and a 22 on the graduation exam.

This proposal represents a significant change from current regulations. Previously, for admission methods not using national high school graduation exam scores, the Ministry applied a "hard" and fixed floor score across years. For instance, the medical doctor major required a graduation exam score of 20/30 or a graduation assessment score of 8,5 or higher; most education majors required 18 points.

The Ministry is collecting feedback on the draft until 23/9. The new circular is expected to take effect this year, meaning it will apply starting from the 2027 university admission season.