Dr. Le Hoang Ha, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, commented that the 2025 high school graduation math and English exams have a high level of difficulty, especially in the differentiation questions, requiring the ability to apply and solve real-life situations. According to him, this is a consequence of the exam having to serve two goals at the same time: graduation and university admission.
'Killer' graduation questions
Dr. Hoang Ha cited that in the Math exam, if there were 50 questions before, the differentiation was only in the last 10 questions. Students with good academic ability could solve the first 35 questions. Thus, the score a candidate could achieve before entering the differentiation section was 6-7 points.
Many candidates complained about the difficulty of the graduation exam in Math and English. (Illustration photo)
As for the 2025 exam, part 1 is only 3 points, part 2 is 4 points and part 3 is 3 points. In part 2, there are 4 big questions, each big question has 4 small questions. If you answer one small question correctly, it is 0.1 point, 2 small questions correctly, it is 0.25 points, 3 small questions correctly, it is 0.5 points and all 4 small questions correctly, it is 1 point. If you answer 4 small questions incorrectly, you lose 1 point, equivalent to 5 multiple choice questions before. Meanwhile, students can only be right or wrong, there is no element of luck like before.
Or the extremely difficult probability questions that make candidates just shake their heads. These two high-level application questions are based on 10th and 11th grade knowledge, causing most candidates to give up.
In English, the passage on the topic of "greenwashing" is called the challenging "final boss" of the exam by many candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam.
"Greenwashing" is a term that combines "green" and "whitewashing". "Green" stands for green development, sustainable development, and environmental protection. "Whitewashing" means covering up and painting something different from reality.
Basically, "greenwashing" is about polishing one's image, showing responsibility to the community in protecting the environment, but in reality, everything is done superficially, even fake, not going into the substance, mainly just for "show".
The term "greenwashing" appearing in the exam is a linguistic challenge, requiring candidates to constantly update current news and social knowledge through official news channels. Candidates in rural and disadvantaged areas will certainly not be able to define this vocabulary.
In general, the English and Math exams will cause many candidates to have difficulty if they do not have a solid grasp of the basic knowledge and have not had a thorough review process. Therefore, Dr. Hoang Ha believes that the average score in Math and English will certainly decrease by 1-2 points compared to 2024. The expected score range is between 5-7 points, the number of exams with scores of 8 or higher will not be many and absolute scores will be very rare.
This means that the combination of Math and English subjects such as A00, A01, D01 will become more competitive in the group of scores from 27 and above, making it easier for top schools to classify good and excellent students. The group of scores from 18-26 will be popular, causing the admission standards of the remaining schools to also decrease by 1-2 points compared to the previous school year.
Benchmark decreased by 0.5 - 4 points
Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that this year's exam closely followed the direction of the Ministry of Education and Training and was part of the curriculum, but was assessed as more difficult to get a high score than last year, clearly demonstrating the requirement to apply knowledge, synthesis skills and practical thinking.
In particular, Literature - the only essay subject, is considered to have good questions, is suggestive and limits "cramming". In particular, the social argument with the statement "any homeland's sky is the Fatherland's sky" creates conditions for candidates to express their emotional depth and current affairs perspective.
Math has changed significantly according to the new program, with high differentiation and is predicted to have a score range of 6-7, with very few candidates achieving 9-10.
The English test is also quite difficult, making it difficult for even candidates with IELTS certificates to answer all the test questions correctly.
Experts predict that the benchmark scores for the A, A1 and D blocks will decrease significantly.
From the above comments, Dr. Quoc Anh predicts that the overall score range for the entire exam is expected to be mainly concentrated in the range of 6 - 7. Traditional combinations such as A01, A00, D01 will decrease. Meanwhile, the benchmark score for combination C00 will remain stable, while the benchmark score for combination containing economic and legal education subjects will increase compared to 2024.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan, a high school teacher in Hanoi, assessed that this year's high school graduation exam was highly appreciated for its quality, differentiation, and assessment of students' practical abilities, limiting the situation of rote learning.
With the increased difficulty level in Math, English, and Literature, it is predicted that the benchmark scores for the admission groups A00, A01, and D01 will be 0.5 - 1 point lower than last year.
The exam questions for Geography, History, and Biology are within the range of ability, with similar scores to last year, so the benchmark scores for blocks B00 and C00 do not fluctuate much.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Dao Tung, Director of the Academy of Finance, predicts that this year's score distribution will be lower than previous years. As a result, the admission benchmark based on high school graduation exam scores at schools may decrease.
For the Academy of Finance, he predicted that the benchmark score could decrease by 3-4 points, spread out in the range of 22-28 points, instead of being concentrated in a certain score range like in 2024.
The school representative also made predictions about the admission threshold of other schools. Specifically, the admission score could decrease by 3-5 points for top schools and by 3-4 points for middle schools.
Explaining the difficulty of the Math and English graduation exams, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training, said that the structure and content of this year's exam have completely changed compared to previous years. Candidates who have prepared thoroughly during their study and review will meet the requirements of the exam better than other candidates. The difficulty of the exam has been discussed and thoroughly understood by the national steering committee before taking the exam.
"Before the exam council started working, the Ministry of Education and Training conducted a large-scale test in all three regions, essentially to assess the candidates' abilities in order to adjust the difficulty of the exam," Professor Ha emphasized. The Ministry of Education and Training's viewpoint is that in the first year of innovation, the status will not change suddenly, including the difficulty of the exam.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/de-tot-nghiep-sat-thu-du-bao-diem-chuan-giam-ar951909.html
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