Nguyen Viet Hung, valedictorian of block A01 and D01 (left cover), and Vu Duc Dam, salutatorian of block D01 (right cover), took a photo with Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhiep - principal of Chu Van An High School for the Gifted ( Hanoi ), on the morning of receiving the exam results news - Photo: NAM TRAN
Nguyen Viet Hung, a student at Chu Van An High School for the Gifted, Hanoi, became the national valedictorian of the 2025 high school graduation exam with 39/40 points.
At the same time, the male student leading the exam scores in 4 university entrance exam groups is A01 (math, physics, English) 29.75 points; D01 (math, literature, English) 29 points; C01 (math, literature, physics) 29.25; D11 (literature, physics, English) 29 points.
Talking to Tuoi Tre Online, Hung shared: Compared to many other friends, I probably study less. I don't stay up too late. Except for math, I only study other subjects at school and study by myself. As for literature and English, I didn't review them during the whole 12th grade, I just completed the teachers' requests in class.
"As an English major, I have a good knowledge base and have practiced for IELTS and SAT, so I didn't spend extra time studying for my graduation exam.
Literature is a subject that I really like to study and was greatly inspired by my teacher. The way she taught helped me acquire fundamental skills from grade 10 and grade 11.
In grade 12, I just tried to study well in class and didn't spend much time outside of class. The same goes for physics, I just mainly grasped the content of the lessons in class," Hung explained.
Nguyen Viet Hung - the national valedictorian of the 2025 high school graduation exam, also the valedictorian of the four groups A01, C01, D01 and D11, shares about his exam scores - Video : NAM TRAN
Talking about self-study, Hung said that during the entire self-study process, he only practiced 20 math questions and 20 physics questions. He asked for the test questions from friends, took them from some social networking sites, and chose questions that were close to the sample test structure of the Ministry of Education and Training, had a variety of requirements in the curriculum, and had different levels of difficulty to do. Then he checked the answers, found out the causes of the mistakes himself to better understand the nature of the problem. According to Hung, that is also a way to practice thinking and reasoning.
Vu Duc Dam, also a student at Chu Van An High School for the Gifted (Hanoi), was the runner-up in block D00 with a score of 28.5 (math 9.5, literature 9.25, English 9.75). Sharing the "secret" to achieving high scores, he said "having parents' support to focus on studying, teachers inspiring him, and having friends to both support and compete with helped motivate him".
"Set a plan for myself, self-study and practice a little bit every day. In each lesson or practice topic, I always try to find out about it in practice so that I can understand more deeply the nature of the question in the topic. I only study at school and review by myself. If I don't understand something, I proactively ask my teachers at school, I don't study outside," said Vu Duc Dam.
Nguyen Quang Minh - grade 12 specialized in math 2 at Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted, valedictorian of block A00 with a perfect score of 30/30 - also shared: "You don't need to study too much, but you have to study the right way. Being proactive in self-study will also help you understand your weaknesses and mistakes so you can overcome and correct them."
Not a student at a specialized school, Nguyen Duy Phong, who studied at Chuong My A High School (Hanoi), was one of eight valedictorians of the A00 group with a perfect score of 30/30. Talking about his journey to becoming valedictorian, Phong said he only studied at school and with friends.
The top candidate of group A00 is also the top candidate of HSA capacity assessment exam Nguyen Duy Phong
Discussing the "less studying" but "high scores" of Nguyen Viet Hung and Vu Duc Dam, teachers at Chu Van An High School all said that they had good learning methods, especially good self-study initiative and perseverance over a long period of time to have a foundation of core competencies and skills, not just rushing into temporary review.
"Hung told me that when he was studying for the IELTS and SAT exams, he found his own way to study and applied a suitable learning method for each subject. First of all, focusing and being serious during regular class hours helps students save time while still grasping core knowledge and skills.
The learning environment guides students to apply knowledge into practice, along with their love of discovery and exploration. This is a strong point that helps students not be hindered by the way the exam questions were set this year," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhiep, principal of Chu Van An High School (Hanoi).
Requires more thinking ability than calculation
Nguyen Viet Hung said he did not have difficulty with the math and English tests, although he made a regrettable mistake in the English test due to his own subjectivity.
"Math questions require more thinking ability than calculation. If during the learning process, students understand the nature of mathematics, are trained to think and reason well, they will not be difficult with this exam. For example, the 2 questions about probability in the exam are considered by many to be too difficult because of the strange way of asking, but in fact, the math problems are still posed that everyone needs to identify.
Or many students are overwhelmed because the questions are too long. The questions are long because they are posed in a real-life situation. But the problem to be solved is still math," Hung said.
Passion makes learning easy
Ms. Tran Thi Yen (English teacher) and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam (Literature teacher) of Hung and Dam both believe that the students' passion and love for learning is an important factor that helps them find learning easy and effective.
Hung also admitted that although he is oriented towards the field of technology, he loves literature from what he reads and from the inspiration of his teachers.
The miracle of Tran Duc Tai
Although he had poor academic performance in chemistry and biology, Tran Duc Tai (a student at Nguyen Khuyen Secondary and High School, Ho Chi Minh City) made a miracle when he became the valedictorian of block B00 with a perfect score of 30 points. Tai is the only candidate to score 10 points in all three subjects of math, chemistry, and biology in the 2025 high school graduation exam.
Since 8th grade, Duc Tai began to dream of becoming a doctor, so he started to pay attention to chemistry and biology. But chemistry lessons with many compounds, chemical theory as well as biology lessons were really not easy to understand.
Since 10th grade, Tai has made a schedule to conquer the two subjects of chemistry and biology. Knowing that he is worse at chemistry and biology than math, Duc Tai reviews chemistry and biology lessons very carefully every day. He studies the theory of the lessons in the textbooks carefully, and asks the teachers for more information about what he doesn't understand, asking them for guidance on how to study chemistry and biology according to the new curriculum.
"My secret to studying is nothing but diligence, hard work, effort and perseverance with my dreams and passions. I overcame the difficulties in studying the two subjects thanks to the help from teachers, family and friends. Teachers have always supported me so that I can ask any questions and make me feel that I always have a solid support," Duc Tai expressed.
Valedictorian with 3 scores of 10 dreams of becoming a teacher
Phan Quang Hien Vinh (Dinh Tien Hoang High School, Ho Chi Minh City, former Ba Ria - Vung Tau) is one of eight valedictorians who achieved 3 scores of 10 in block A00 in the 2025 national high school graduation exam.
Mr. Phan Ngoc Tan, principal of Dinh Tien Hoang High School, confided that Hien Vinh is an excellent student, well-rounded in every subject. He is not only self-taught and good at studying, but also responsible for the class and always has a community spirit. In the competency assessment exam of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, he scored 9.6 points - also in the top group.
Mrs. Ngo Thi Kim Thanh (her maternal aunt's grandmother) also shared that Hien Vinh did not go to extra math and physics classes but only took chemistry tutoring at school.
Hien Vinh's self-study spirit was "inspired" by his teachers at school when many teachers gave him reference books and school books specializing in studying. Whenever he received a bonus from the school, he used the money to buy reference books.
Phan Quang Hien Vinh shared that for chemistry and physics, you should learn the theory first and do exercises from easy to difficult, and for math, you should learn the basics. Hien Vinh said he will go to Ho Chi Minh City University of Education to become a teacher.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bi-quyet-tu-hoc-tu-on-cua-cac-thu-khoa-a-khoa-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-20250717075712781.htm
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