How will the high school graduation exam change from 2025 onwards?

Báo Tuổi Trẻ•11/03/2024

Thứ trưởng Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo Phạm Ngọc Thưởng tại hội thảo về kỳ thi tốt nghiệp THPT từ năm 2025 - Ảnh: TRẦN HIỆP — Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong at a workshop on the high school graduation exam from 2025 - Photo: TRAN HIEP

Regarding the exam structure, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Deputy Director of the Quality Management Department (Ministry of Education and Training), said that the structure of the high school graduation exam from 2025 onwards is built on the basis of inheriting and developing content to suit new requirements.

Increase the number of multiple-choice questions and reduce the number of exam papers.

Accordingly, the Literature exam will be in essay format, while the remaining subjects will be in multiple-choice format. The multiple-choice exams will retain their existing format (multiple-choice) and will include some additional formats: true/false questions (simultaneously testing various abilities in a single question) combined with a scoring system to create high differentiation; and short-answer questions requiring critical thinking similar to essay questions.

According to Mr. Ha, diversifying the formats of multiple-choice questions can better assess students' abilities in accordance with the requirements of the new curriculum. This also overcomes the shortcomings of previous multiple-choice exams.

For example, in short-answer format, the probability of getting a random score is zero, which limits students from making arbitrary choices to get lucky scores, and also ensures that students develop their reasoning skills during exam preparation for multiple-choice tests.

"The new structure retains 40 questions across all subjects but will reduce the number of exam papers, decrease workload, and minimize printing and paper splicing risks," Mr. Ha stated, highlighting the advantages of the new exam structure, which has taken into account feasibility, cost reduction, and pressure.

With the high school graduation exam starting in 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training aims to promote the intellectual capacity of the entire education sector. This includes building an open-ended question library for the exam.

Exam questions are selected from surveys conducted by departments and schools, and semester exams serve as raw material for the national testing center to analyze exam questions using testing theory, and to select exam questions from the question library to be included in the standardized exam question bank.

The exam question library does not need to be confidential, even if it is not publicly disclosed. Only content selected for the question bank according to a standardized question-building process is required to comply with confidentiality regulations.

"Reduces pressure, reduces costs"

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong stated that the goal of the high school graduation exam from 2025 onwards is to reduce pressure and costs for society and parents, ensure objectivity and honesty, and guarantee reliability for educational institutions in their admissions process.

The reform of the examination system also impacts schools in terms of building question banks and innovating regular and periodic testing during the teaching and learning process.

According to Mr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Quality Management Department (Ministry of Education and Training), the high school graduation exam from 2025 onwards will still ensure a multi-purpose exam: assessing high school graduation, serving as a basis for evaluating the quality of teaching and learning in educational institutions, and providing reliable data for higher education and vocational education institutions to use in admissions in the spirit of autonomy.

According to the examination method decided by the Ministry of Education and Training, candidates will take 4 subjects, including 2 compulsory subjects: literature and mathematics, and 2 elective subjects from the remaining subjects.

From 2025 onwards, the high school graduation assessment will continue to combine the results of ongoing assessments and the graduation exam results, in a ratio consistent with the implementation roadmap of the 2018 general education program.

For high school graduation exams after 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training will be responsible for overall direction, issuing guiding documents, and coordinating with ministries, sectors, and localities to organize the exams.

The Ministry is promoting the application of information technology, coordinating with relevant agencies to prevent fraud in exams, and carrying out inspection, examination, and supervision of the exams.

The People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall organize and be fully responsible for the examination in their localities. Higher education institutions, colleges, and vocational schools shall proactively use the examination results as a basis for student admissions in an autonomous manner, ensuring quality.

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