The specialized subject exams are a challenge for candidates.

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - This afternoon, June 4, 1,817 candidates registered for the 10th grade entrance exam at Lam Son High School for the Gifted (Thanh Hoa City) continued to take the specialized exam as registered, with a test time of 150 minutes. This is also the last exam session, concluding the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2025-2026 school year.

The first candidates have completed their specialized subject exams at the Lam Son High School for the Gifted examination center.

For the 2025-2026 academic year, Lam Son High School for the Gifted will enroll 12 classes (420 students, 35 students per class), including specialized classes in Mathematics, Literature, and English (2 classes each); the remaining specialized classes include: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Informatics, History, and Geography (1 class each). The specialized subject exam will be weighted with a coefficient of 3. All exams will be essay-based. The English exam will also include a listening comprehension section; the Informatics exam will be a computer programming test.

After 150 minutes of focused and serious work, the candidates left the examination hall with a variety of emotions.

As expected, the specialized subject exams were designed to differentiate students at varying levels of difficulty, matching the abilities of those taking the specialized exams.

Confident about his exam, Le Hung Anh, a student from Nguyen Hong Le Secondary School (Sam Son City), said: “This year's Literature exam was quite manageable, not too difficult for students specializing in Literature. The text section was well-balanced in terms of length, the reading comprehension section was quite easy, the writing section, which was a poem, tested students' comprehensive knowledge, while the social commentary section was quite novel. To do well on this exam, candidates need to have critical thinking skills. With this Literature exam, I am confident that I did quite well.”

Le Hoang Minh Ha, a student from Van Ha Town Secondary School (Thieu Hoa district), who is taking the entrance exam for the History specialization at Lam Son High School for the Gifted, said: “This year is marked by many important national events, so candidates can predict that the exam will cover many topics related to these major events. Therefore, I think everyone will do well on the exam.”

After completing the specialized Physics exam, Nguyen Quynh Nhu, a student from Ly Tu Trong Secondary School ( Thanh Hoa City ), said: “This year's Physics exam was quite manageable for students. The exam structure consisted of two parts: a general section about the solar system, and a specialized section covering thermomechanics, electrochemistry, optics, and practical exercises. The electrochemistry section had the most points, so there were a few difficult questions that I wasn't very confident about. I hope my score will meet my expectations.”

According to teachers, this year's specialized subject exams were excellent, meeting the required knowledge and skills standards, and highly differentiated, demanding truly strong skills from the candidates. The exams effectively selected outstanding students for specialized schools.

Candidates discuss the specialized subject exam questions at the exam center at Dong Bac Ga Primary, Secondary & High School (Thanh Hoa City).

Commenting on the History and Geography exam for students taking the specialized Geography exam, Mr. Le Dinh Hien, a teacher at Dong Bac Ga Primary, Secondary & High School (Thanh Hoa City), said: "The exam was relatively scientifically structured, closely following the direction of educational reform towards developing students' competencies. The exam had a clear and reasonable structure, with a sufficient number of questions (4 questions in a total time of 150 minutes, ensuring it was appropriate for 9th-grade students), including a general section and a specific section, helping students easily orient themselves in answering the questions. The content of some questions related to real-world issues such as climate change in the Mekong Delta, the role of the Party in the reform process, etc., thereby enhancing students' civic awareness and social understanding. The exam had good differentiation, shown through the distribution of knowledge – comprehension – application and high-level application levels in questions 2, 3, and 4, especially question 4. The exam also ensured integration." The exam combines History and Geography, and Vietnamese and world history. However, in my assessment, the exam still has some shortcomings, such as: Question 4, which requires a lengthy presentation and analysis, the wording is unclear, and it could put pressure on or lead students astray if they lack good reading comprehension, presentation, and synthesis skills.

Teacher Hien stated: “This is a seriously constructed exam with a clear educational orientation, in line with the trend of innovative competency assessment. It is suitable for selecting high-achieving students for specialized schools. To achieve a high score on this exam, students not only need to memorize facts but also need to be able to analyze, evaluate, and relate them to real-world situations.”

Regarding the Literature exam, Ms. Pham Thi Giang, a teacher at Cu Chinh Lan Secondary School (Thanh Hoa City), commented: “The selected materials are very standard, suitable for the psychology and understanding of 9th-grade students, consistent with Vietnamese customs and traditions, and possess high educational and humanistic value. All questions are clear, not tricky, and do not cause confusion for candidates. The questions in the exam not only test the ability to read and understand texts but also create a connection between literature and life. The Reading Comprehension section tested both Vietnamese language knowledge and reading comprehension skills of students. In the Writing section, the argumentative essay question clearly stated the issue to be discussed, but still revealed students' deep understanding of life. Specifically, question 2 in the Essay Writing section tested knowledge of poetry that appears in the literature knowledge of some lessons, as well as the ability to connect theoretical knowledge with the ability to analyze and appreciate literature from a certain perspective.” science ".

Regarding this exam, Ms. Giang believes that candidates need to demonstrate creativity in their answers by combining analysis and literary works. Overall, the specialized Literature exam met the requirements for developing students' qualities and abilities, providing space for students to develop their literary skills, and featuring beautiful and humanistic materials. The exam is suitable for selecting students with strong abilities, in accordance with the requirements of Lam Son specialized Literature program.

The candidates were happy to have completed the exam.

Regarding this year's science subject exams, many teachers also believe that the questions are relatively suitable for students taking specialized exams.

Commenting on the Physics exam, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, a Physics teacher at Tran Mai Ninh Secondary School (Thanh Hoa City), said: “The exam structure is correct and suitable for the 2018 General Education program. However, the exam is too long, with many questions, requiring a broad range of knowledge that demands candidates to understand the fundamentals of Physics, perform calculations, and reason carefully. Therefore, candidates who rely on rote learning will find it very difficult to achieve high scores on this exam. In my opinion, the average score for Physics will be between 6.0 and 7.5 points.”

Regarding the relatively long and difficult Chemistry exam, Ms. Le Viet Ha, a teacher at Tran Mai Ninh Secondary School (Thanh Hoa City), shared: “The exam was very good and structured correctly, but it was long and difficult. It had 7 main questions divided into 16 smaller questions, and within those 16 smaller questions there were 35 sub-questions. With a time limit of 150 minutes, that's quite long. Some questions contained difficult knowledge for secondary school students. With this exam, it will be relatively difficult for students to get high scores.”

After two days of exams, the entrance exam for 10th grade in Thanh Hoa for the 2025-2026 school year has officially concluded, leaving many special emotions for more than 43,500 candidates - the first batch of candidates taking the exam under the 2018 General Education Program.

Linh Huong - Nguyen Dat

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/de-thi-cac-mon-chuyen-la-thu-thach-voi-thi-sinh-250997.htm