Take the university entrance exam today

To enter the exam room, candidates are only allowed to bring their ID card, write and go through the security gate - Photo: MG

Compared to 25 years ago, university entrance exams are now quite diverse. Candidates are also much more comfortable and relaxed.

I am not under too much pressure because there are many exams and many opportunities to choose the highest score for admission. However, I do not take too many exams because the exam fee is quite high and travel is expensive.

Contestant Thuy Tien (Tien Giang)

Candidates are comfortable

On April 6, I took the computer-based university entrance exam (V-SAT) organized by Saigon University.

V-SAT is an exam organized by participating schools. The National Center for Testing and Education Quality Assessment (Ministry of Education and Training) is the coordinating, supporting and question bank provider. Dozens of schools currently organize this exam and use the results for university admission.

I took the second exam at 9am so I arrived about 30 minutes early. The school gate and yard were deserted, everyone could come and go freely. There were no parents waiting for their children in front of the gate, the school door was closed like before.

At the exam area, some candidates who were taking the second exam like me were waiting for their time. I walked around and only saw one candidate reviewing his history exam. The other candidates were quite relaxed.

After the first session, Thanh Thang - a student at Hung Vuong High School (HCMC) - said he had 60 minutes left on the math test (90 minutes). "I thought I missed something so I scrolled up and down the questions many times but in fact I ran out of questions" - Thang said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tuan Khai - a student at Pham Phu Thu High School (District 6, Ho Chi Minh City) - complained that the math test was difficult. Khai decided to take the math - literature - history combination. Khai expected to get 80 points in math but the result was only 65. Khai said he had to wait for literature and history to pull his score up.

As the exam time approaches, candidates must deposit all their belongings in the locker room, and are only allowed to bring their ID card and writing paper into the exam room. After depositing their belongings, candidates go to the waiting room, and when the exam time comes, the invigilator will call them into the exam room.

In the waiting room, I started talking to Thuy Tien - a student at Nguyen Dinh Chieu High School (Tien Giang). Tien said that early in the morning, she and her daughter took a bus to Ho Chi Minh City, and after the exam in the afternoon, they would return home.

A few days before, Tien also took the specialized assessment exam of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. Tien planned to take the V-SAT to apply for the literature pedagogy major. However, after registering, she found out that the pedagogy major at Saigon University does not consider V-SAT results.

Tien still took the exam and used the results to apply for the literature teacher training program at Can Tho University. Tien said that more than half of her class took separate exams such as the ability assessment, specialized exams, and V-SAT to increase their chances.

Thuy Tien and Tuan Khai (sitting, white shirt) took the exam separately to increase their chances of being accepted - Photo: MG

Do the test quickly, know your score immediately

At the time, the invigilator calls the candidates to the examination room. The examination room area is roped off with signs warning that unauthorized persons are not allowed to enter, and there is an invigilator on duty. Candidates must pass through the security gate before reaching the examination room door. The invigilator calls their name and checks their ID before allowing them into the room.

Each candidate sits at a computer with a compartment for their registration number. The supervisor gives the candidate a piece of paper with the candidate's information and the account information to log into the exam system. When the exam time comes, the candidate logs in and takes the test on the computer. All subjects are multiple choice.

My exam room has candidates taking many different subjects at the same time. I took the history and geography exams with 25 questions, total score 150 with multiple choices for each question. Literature had 20 multiple choice questions with total score 120, one essay question worth 30 points.

V-SAT candidates wait to be called into the exam room - Photo: MG

When the candidate finishes the test, the computer screen will immediately display the score that the candidate has achieved. When the test time is over, the examination board will print out the score list of the entire room for the candidate to sign to confirm his/her score. All scratch paper will be collected when the candidate leaves the test room.

The history exam lasts 60 minutes. The exam includes many contents with many different types of questions such as true-false, matching, short answer. The literature exam is quite long when using many passages of text that require candidates to read to carry out the requirements and answer the questions.

Observing the exam rooms for each subject, I saw many candidates finishing their test early, putting their heads down on the table. Multiple choice tests, so whether you know it or not, you can still complete the test. This is very different from essay tests, where if you don't know, you just leave the paper blank.

Candidates in the waiting room, waiting to be called into the V-SAT exam room - Photo: MG

Sitting in the last row, when I signed the score sheet, I glanced through and saw that not many candidates had scores above 100 points. Meeting Tuan Khai again at noon, Khai said that he had scored 117 points in the history exam. This was a pretty high score. However, combined with the math, Khai only scored 182 points.

"In high school, the history teacher only taught a part of the renovation while the exam had several questions about this content. Meanwhile, in the graduation exam review class, the renovation content was not yet reviewed, so I lost points for this part. The questions related to Phan Chau Trinh were in grade 11 so I forgot" - Khai shared.

You expect the result in literature to increase your score. However, Khai said that this week he will continue taking the second round of V-SAT at Saigon University because he registered in advance. The round with better results will be used for admission.

Essay topics have diverse requirements

Of the three subjects, I feel that the literature subject has the most open exam questions. Each question is a passage, probably outside the textbook, and the questions that come with it. The requirements are also quite diverse, testing many skills of the candidates from reading comprehension to application. No matter what the requirement is, the content is given, the candidates just need to apply their knowledge and skills to find the correct answer and match it correctly.

There are questions where the answer can be found immediately based on the sentence linking words, but there are also cases where you have to read carefully, filter the content, understand or remember the meaning of the poem. The 30-point essay section requires candidates to write about the meaning of self-study, which is not too difficult.

Typing problem without accents

At the end of the second shift, the invigilator allowed the candidates to leave the examination room. However, when the candidates reached the door, the invigilator asked them to return to their seats. More than 15 minutes later, the invigilator announced that in the second shift, many candidates had typed in Vietnamese without accents when doing the short answer part, so the machine did not grade this part. Therefore, the candidates would have to retake this part.

The technician installed Vietnamese on the computer, then the candidate logged in and redid the short answer part. This incident caused the second exam to last about 60 minutes longer. However, the candidate's rights were guaranteed.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/di-thi-dai-hoc-thoi-nay-20250411081330134.htm