Universities must control grade inflation

Universities are required to review academic results against output standards and employer feedback, avoiding imposed quotas for excellent or distinction graduates, as mandated by the Ministry of Education and Training.

This directive is part of the Ministry of Education and Training’s instructions for the 2026-2027 academic year, issued on 16/10.

Specifically, the Ministry requires universities to operate internal quality assurance systems effectively and to review regulations for examination, assessment, and graduation classification. Institutions should analyze grade distribution for modules, academic results, and graduation classifications by major, cohort, and training format. This analysis must be benchmarked against output standards and employer feedback to identify, verify, and address grade inflation.

"Do not impose grade percentages or quotas for excellent or distinction graduates; do not lower standards to boost achievements," the Ministry stated. It further requires universities to report on grade inflation control before the academic year ends.

At a conference a few weeks ago, Minister Hoang Minh Son expressed concern that many universities, including major ones, have a "very high" percentage of excellent graduates. He questioned, "If it's easy to achieve excellent grades, do students still need to put in effort?"

Another Ministry official previously noted that many good and excellent students are not meeting market demands, though no detailed figures were provided to support this claim.

According to 2026 graduation statistics, the percentage of students receiving distinction and excellent degrees is increasing at many universities. For example, at National Economics University, 51,2% of over 5.700 graduates this year received excellent degrees – a record high. At Foreign Trade University, this rate was 25-30% across two graduation ceremonies.