With fragile health due to lymphoma and living in a cramped house with her mother, a recycler, Hoang Mi believes that only education can change her life.
Several high schools in Lai Chau, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, and other provinces have set their admission thresholds below 10, equivalent to about 3 points per subject, with some as low as 0.8.
Nguyen Minh Thu, who achieved two perfect scores and earned the top spot in the 10th-grade entrance exam, stayed up until 2 a.m. practicing 5-6 exam papers daily during the final month of preparation.
The top scorer at the Hanoi University of Education's specialized high school (HUES) achieved 29.5/30 points in the math class, while top scorers in other specialized classes ranged from 24.5 to over 27 points.
Surpassing approximately 76,400 candidates, Lu Tran Quynh Lan is one of two top scorers in the Ho Chi Minh City 10th-grade entrance exam with a total score of 28.75, including a perfect 10 in math.
This year's 10th-grade entrance exams emphasized real-world problems and reduced technical complexity, a positive development in the first year students nationwide took the exam under the new curriculum, according to several educators.
