Familiar exam format, will the cutoff scores be high?

Approximately 96,000 students in Ho Chi Minh City completed their 10th grade entrance exam yesterday (June 7th). Regarding this year's entrance exam, teachers of 9th grade students generally agree that the exam structure was similar to last year's in all three subjects: mathematics, literature, and English. The question-setting method is not new, following the professional guidance from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training at the beginning of the school year, allowing teachers to plan and prepare students with the necessary knowledge and skills.

Furthermore, the admission score for 10th grade is the sum of the scores of three subjects with a common weighting of 1. Therefore, the average score of each subject, whether higher or lower than the previous year, will affect this year's cutoff score. Thus, to predict the exam scores of the 96,000 candidates this year, an assessment of the difficulty level of the exam questions is necessary.

There will be more students who achieve an average score in Literature.

Regarding the Literature subject, Ms. Huynh Le Y Nhi from Dong Khoi Secondary School (Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City) commented that the exam questions did not feel overwhelming to the candidates. Even in the reading comprehension section, the transition from answering question 1 at the discovery level to question 2 at the advanced level of understanding kept candidates engaged. Furthermore, although the essay topics were familiar, the exam compilers gave candidates a sense of autonomy, fulfilling the "commitment" of the Literature subject matter supervisor to be "completely open" to allowing candidates to choose their own materials for their essays; to analyze, discuss, and express their own viewpoints. Therefore, candidates felt more at ease with the first exam.

Ninth-grade students in Ho Chi Minh City completed their 10th-grade entrance exams with a relaxed mood, as the questions were considered relatively easy.

However, teacher Ý Nhi also pointed out that although the exam structure is familiar and seems easy at first glance, the level of differentiation is quite high. This is demonstrated by the fact that candidates are given the autonomy to choose texts to analyze, discuss, evaluate, draw meaning from, and relate to real-life situations in a way that is appropriate to the topic and requirements of the question.

Regarding the overall score distribution this year, Ms. Ý Nhi compared the requirements of each section of this year's exam with last year's and noted that the social commentary and literary analysis sections showed more differentiation, but the reading comprehension section was quite manageable, and candidates could achieve maximum scores in this area. According to Ms. Ý Nhi, the overall score distribution will likely be similar to last year, with a higher number of candidates achieving average scores.

MANY CANDIDATES WILL ACHIEVE GOOD SCORES IN THE ENGLISH SUBJECT.

Regarding English, teacher Tran Huu Thang, head of the English department at Le Quy Don Secondary School (District 3), assessed that candidates only need to study the 9th-grade English textbook carefully to easily complete the multiple-choice section. The parts that candidates are most worried about in the English exam are the two reading comprehension passages. According to Mr. Huu Thang, these two passages will not be difficult for above-average or excellent candidates. Average students can probably score 50%. Mr. Thang predicts that this year there will be more candidates achieving above-average scores, and the overall exam scores this year will be better than last year.

The average score for Math may be lower than last year.

Teacher Dang Hoang Du, who teaches 9th grade math in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, commented: "While the Literature exam was open-ended and the English exam might see a 'flood' of perfect scores, the math exam might be stricter, as the average math score might be lower than last year." Mr. Du believes the structure hasn't changed, but there's better differentiation compared to last year. Most of the math problems are familiar, from questions 1 to 6. Question 3 is a type of problem frequently appearing in semester exams and is something almost every teacher has reviewed with their students. Question 7 is designed to differentiate candidates, and this year, question 8 in the geometry section (part 2, question c) asks to prove that three points are collinear. This is a difficult question with a high level of differentiation. The exam demonstrated good differentiation among candidates, consistent with the goals of an entrance exam. According to Mr. Du, with this exam, candidates will easily get 6 points, but getting 8 points or more will not be easy.

Candidates preparing for the mathematics exam in the 10th grade entrance exam.

Mr. Dang Huu Tri, head of the math department at Nguyen Du Secondary School (District 1), commented that the practical math section, if done carefully, would score 3.5/4.5 points. Question 8, plane geometry, is a familiar type of question for students preparing for the entrance exam. Only question 8c requires critical thinking and is a question designed to differentiate students. Overall, the exam has familiar elements but also clearly distinguishes students based on their abilities.

According to two teachers, the distribution of math scores this year will be concentrated between 5 and 7, with scores of 8 and above becoming increasingly rare, and a perfect 10 will be harder to achieve than last year if candidates work carefully.

Based on the above analysis, Mr. Dang Hoang Du predicts: "The average cutoff scores this year may not fluctuate compared to last year. However, with the exam showing differentiation in the two subjects of mathematics and literature, while the English exam was too easy for fairly good candidates, the cutoff scores for top-tier schools may differ significantly from those of lower-tier schools. Cutoff scores for mid-tier schools will remain stable, while those from the bottom tier may be lower."

According to Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu, Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School (District 1), the cut-off scores will be more clearly differentiated: Top-tier schools will have a cut-off of 23 points, mid-tier schools will have a cut-off of 19 points, and there will be no instances of students scoring below 10 points passing their first choice.

Judging will begin on June 12th, and results will be announced on June 20th.

This morning (June 8th), the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will begin grading the 10th grade entrance exams for the 2023-2024 school year.

Mr. Le Hoai Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, said that the Department mobilized approximately 2,500 officials and teachers to participate in this work. Of these, 700 participated in the marking process and 1,835 officials and teachers participated in the grading process.

After the final grading of the exam papers for 96,000 candidates, the marking process will officially begin on June 12th. Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training announced that the grading committee has agreed on the scoring scale and answer key according to regulations. Each exam paper will be graded in two independent rounds by two examiners from two different grading teams. The exam will be graded on a 10-point scale, with fractional points of the total score rounded to two decimal places.

The grading process is expected to be completed by the afternoon of June 19th, and the Department of Education and Training will announce the results of all candidates who participated in the 10th grade entrance exam on June 20th. Readers can access thanhnien.vn using their candidate number to check their exam scores.

After receiving their 10th-grade exam scores, candidates who wish to appeal their exam results should submit their appeal request at the junior high school where they studied in 9th grade, from June 21st to 24th. The appeal results will be announced on June 30th.

Admission scores for specialized schools will be announced on June 24th, and for regular schools on July 10th.

The cutoff scores for 10th grade in the 2023-2024 school year will be announced at different times depending on the school and class model. It is expected that the Department of Education and Training will announce the cutoff scores for specialized and integrated English programs on June 24th. Candidates admitted to specialized high schools, high schools offering integrated English programs, and those admitted through direct admission should submit their enrollment documents to their admitted school from June 25th to before 4 PM on June 29th.

After the above deadline, candidates who do not submit their enrollment documents will have their names removed from the list of admitted students. However, candidates who are admitted after the review of their exam results must submit their enrollment documents to specialized or integrated classes by July 5th.

On July 10th, the Department of Education and Training will announce the admission cutoff scores and the list of successful candidates for regular 10th grade classes in public schools. Successful candidates must submit their enrollment documents to the high school they were admitted to between July 11th and August 1st. After 4 PM on August 1st, candidates who have not submitted their enrollment documents will have their names removed from the list of successful candidates. The Department of Education and Training notes that successful candidates will attend the school they applied to and will not process any requests to change their preferred school.

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