Benchmarks, tuning, and what you see...

The statistics of admission scores of universities seem to have increased sharply, which is considered an abnormal score. While the previous prediction was that the admission score would decrease because the average score of high school graduation exam subjects has decreased, especially Math, which is the subject in most admission combinations with the sharpest decrease in average score.

However, most importantly, this year's technical changes in admissions have caused unpredictable changes in the admissions situation, losing important criteria for career choice, and giving rise to many problems affecting candidates.

However, the overall picture of admission scores at schools shows that in fact, the admission scores only increased at a few top schools, while the majority of schools did not increase much in their admission scores, or even decreased compared to 2024 as predicted. This result is related to the fact that although the average number of admission applications per candidate in 2025 was up to about 9, nearly double that of 2024, most of the candidates' priority applications were concentrated at top universities.

The obvious consequence of this is that the benchmark scores of these schools in general and in some majors of these schools in particular have increased sharply, skyrocketed. As a result, many candidates with high scores still failed, and lower-ranking universities will certainly have to consider many quotas in the supplementary admission period. Evidence of this is clear when, before the end of the admission confirmation period on the system, dozens of universities have announced to consider thousands of additional quotas.

The elimination of early admission also somewhat reduces the orientation of candidates when registering for the exam to choose a major and a school. Candidates must increase the number of admission wishes to ensure a high chance of admission. With the regulation that when registering for the exam, candidates only need to write the name of the major, the name of the school, and the results of the admission on the system, it seems that the trend of choosing a school is more dominant than choosing a registered major. The admission results show that many schools have a large number of admission wishes of nearly 200,000 but still announce additional admission immediately after announcing the first round of admission scores. This is because although the number of candidates registering for the exam to enter the school is large, most candidates only place their wishes on the lower wishes, so candidates have been admitted to schools with higher priority wishes.

The three groups of majors with the highest fluctuations and differentiation in admission scores are Information Technology; Health Sciences , especially Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Teacher Training. This differentiation once again shows the tendency of candidates to choose schools rather than majors in the 2025 admissions period. The group of pedagogy majors has a sharp increase in admission scores, with some pedagogy majors having admission scores approaching 30 points. The explanation for this result is quite easy to understand because the admission quota for majors in the pedagogy group is very small, but attracts many candidates because students will enjoy high support from regulations on tuition and living expenses according to Decree 116/2020 of the Government.

Another factor affecting the admission results of universities is the regulation on converting scores according to percentiles. The goal of converting scores is that the benchmark scores between methods must be equivalent in terms of the level of assessing candidates' abilities. The Ministry of Education and Training only provides general framework regulations for conversion, universities must specify the conversion formulas according to each school's way, leading to the converted scores of admission methods and admission subject combinations may not be the same in schools. Not to mention the conversion of scores for foreign language certificates in schools is also different when the admission combination includes a foreign language subject; the addition of bonus points when considering admission for the same evidence (foreign language certificates, academic achievements...) is taken into account by some schools, while others do not, making the comparison of benchmark scores between schools and majors no longer important.

Another important thing that has never happened before is that schools announced the admission scores on the evening of August 22, but then re-announced them in the following days, causing candidates to "pass" and "fail". Virtual filtering and simultaneous admission were extended for 2 more days and increased from 6 to 10 virtual filtering and admission times, and ended with the admission scores being finalized at the last virtual filtering. But when schools re-announced the admission scores, candidates who had passed turned out to be failed. What should we do now? Regardless of the cause or reason, this is unacceptable both emotionally and logically, because it seriously affects the rights of candidates.

The innovation efforts of the Ministry of Education and Training are commendable. However, in reality, there seems to be a huge gap between the way of adjusting the admission techniques and new regulations compared to the way of coordinating implementation, technology infrastructure, and techniques in admission... Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to look directly at the actual situation to immediately resolve the rights of candidates from failing to passing, passing to failing. Next, it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate this year's admission work to promptly adjust in accordance with the spirit of examination innovation, ensuring fairness, objectivity and transparency.

Dr. NGUYEN DUC NGHIA, Former Vice President of VNU-HCM

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/diem-chuan-cach-chinh-va-nhung-dieu-trong-thay-post810313.html