Standard scores for Pedagogy and Journalism majors are on the rise, but 9.5 points/subject still fails

As of noon on August 19th, nearly 200 universities had announced their 2024 admission cutoff scores, with the highest scores recorded for History Education and Literature Education at Hanoi University of Education, both at 29.3 points (an average of 9.76 points per subject).

Even with 9.5 points per subject, you still fail to get into the Teacher Training program.

In previous years, the cut-off scores for Literature, History, and Geography Education majors were higher than those for Natural Sciences Education majors, but the difference wasn't too significant, especially for Mathematics Education. However, this year the difference is expected to be substantial. Furthermore, these majors have introduced additional criteria requiring candidates to achieve a score of 29.3 and list the major as their first choice to be admitted.

Meanwhile, at Hanoi Pedagogical University, the cutoff score for the Mathematics Education major was only 27.47. The cutoff scores for the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Education majors were 26-27.

This is also similar at teacher training colleges or multidisciplinary universities that offer teacher training programs. For universities like the University of Education - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Hanoi Teacher Training College 2 ( Vinh Phuc ), Thai Nguyen Teacher Training College, and Hue Teacher Training College, the highest entrance scores are all above 28, almost reaching 29.

Even at smaller universities like Hoa Lu University (Ninh Binh), the entrance exam score for Early Childhood Education reached 27.97. All scores are higher than last year.

High cut-off scores for Education and Journalism majors: 9.5 points per subject still doesn't guarantee admission. (Illustrative image)

The entrance exam scores for teacher training programs have increased due to several reasons:

Firstly, this year the number of candidates in Group C increased by approximately 20,000 compared to 2023. The average score for the three subjects in 2023 was 18.97 points, which increased by 1.98 points to 20.95 points in 2024. If we consider the high and excellent scores, the number of candidates increased even more significantly. At the 24-point level, there were 33,459 candidates in 2023, and this number doubled in 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of candidates achieving excellent scores has increased dramatically. At the 27-point level, there were 6,041 candidates in 2023, while in 2024 this number increased fourfold. The number of candidates scoring 28 points increased sixfold compared to 2023, and those scoring 29 points increased more than tenfold. The number of candidates scoring between 29 and 30 points in 2024 increased more than 54 times compared to 2023.

Secondly, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, the number of applications to teacher training programs this year increased by 85% compared to last year. Particularly at universities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi Teacher Training University 2, the increase was approximately double.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has tightened the quotas, keeping them at the same level as last year, and significantly lower than the year before that, partly because many provinces and cities did not order teacher training under Decree 116 (2020).

These are the two reasons why the cut-off scores for many majors and schools in the Teacher Training sector have increased dramatically. Many schools that had average cut-off scores last year now have majors where even with 9.5 points per subject, students still fail to get in.

Social science entrance exam scores skyrocketed.

Not only Teacher Training, but also Journalism, Public Relations, and other fields that recruit students using subject groups C and D have seen a significant jump in scores.

One university with a record increase in admission scores this year is the Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture. Last year, the admission scores for its majors ranged from 15 to 24.24 points. This year, the scores for its majors range from 22 to 27.85 points, with six majors requiring scores of 26 points or higher.

Compared to 2023, the entrance exam scores for many majors at Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture increased significantly, such as: Library and Information Science increased by 8 points; Museum Studies increased by 8.5 points; Cultural Heritage Management and Tourism Development increased by 7.5 points; Culture of Ethnic Minorities increased by 7 points, and the remaining majors increased by 3-5.5 points.

This year, the Diplomatic Academy has 8 majors that recruit students with the C00 subject combination, and all 8 majors have cut-off scores for the C subject combination above 28 points. Meanwhile, the cut-off scores for the same majors with other subject combinations are much lower (only above 25 or 26 points).

For example, at Hanoi Law University, the highest admission scores are for the C00 group in Economic Law, with 28.85 points; and Law, with 28.15 points, significantly higher than other combinations even within the same major.

The cut-off scores for social science majors have skyrocketed compared to 2023. (Illustrative image)

The University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) has admission scores ranging from 22 to 28.8 points. Notably, the average admission scores for majors in the C00 group increased by 2-3 points compared to 2023. In particular, the Religious Studies major saw a 5-point increase in the C00 group.

The top-scoring majors at the University of Culture this year all belong to the C00 subject combination, with 5 majors requiring scores above 28 points: Journalism, Tourism and Travel Service Management, Cultural Studies, Art Studies, and History. Of these, the Journalism major requires an average score of 9.6 points per subject to be admitted.

Similarly, many majors with cutoff scores of 15 or 16 last year have seen their scores jump to 25 this year. For example, the Vietnamese Studies major at Hanoi Pedagogical University, which had a cutoff score of 16.4 two years ago, has "transformed" this year with a cutoff score of up to 25.07.

Many major universities, such as the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and the Academy of Journalism and Communication, still have admission scores as low as 9.5 points per subject, but students still fail to get in.

Explaining the phenomenon of the sudden increase in scores, Associate Professor Dang Thi Thu Huong, Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), said that this year's high school graduation exam saw nearly 1.1 million candidates register nationwide. Of these, 37% registered for the natural science exam and 63% chose the social science exam.

"The percentage of candidates choosing to take social science subjects is the highest in the past 7 years. This is also one of the reasons why the admission scores for social science and humanities universities have skyrocketed this year, something that the universities had predicted beforehand," Associate Professor Huong said.

The Engineering and Medical fields maintain their momentum.

Over the past five years, the entrance exam scores for universities in engineering, information technology, medicine, computer science, and other related fields have consistently remained at the top, ranging from 27 to 29 points or higher.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City), University of Technology (Vietnam National University Hanoi). The Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence majors both saw a slight increase in admission scores.

The National Economics University is recruiting for the first time for majors in Information Security, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, and Information Systems, yet the cutoff scores still reached 34.5 to nearly 36/40 - among the highest.

More notably, the University of Science (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City) saw a sharp increase in the admission scores for many majors. Some majors that had admission scores of 17-18 in 2023 saw increases of 3.5-6.6 points this year, such as: Nuclear Engineering (up 6.6 points); Materials Science (up 5.3 points); and Resource and Environmental Management (up 3.5 points). Meanwhile, the leading major in terms of admission score at the university, Computer Science (advanced program), saw a slight increase from 28.05 last year to 28.5 points this year.

According to Associate Professor Vu Duy Hai, Head of Admissions and Career Guidance at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the admission cutoff scores for the university's training programs are quite close to the levels the university had predicted. Most candidates took full advantage of the opportunity to apply to Hanoi University of Science and Technology by using both their scores from the Thinking Skills Assessment Test (TSA) and their high school graduation exam scores.

The cut-off scores for technology-related fields such as data science, computer science, and artificial intelligence are still rising at some universities, demonstrating that their appeal to applicants remains strong and is expected to continue for the next few years.

In addition, fields such as Medicine, Pharmacy, Marketing, and Logistics consistently have the highest admission scores, both at universities with a tradition of economics education and other institutions.

For example, at the University of Commerce, the Commercial Marketing major had the highest entrance score with 27 points, followed by Logistics and Supply Chain Management with 26.9 points. Similarly, Customs and Logistics also had the highest entrance score at the Academy of Finance - 36.15/40 points, while Marketing led at Hue University of Economics with 23/30 points.

Hanoi Medical University set the cutoff score for the Medical program at 28.27 points, an increase of 0.54 compared to last year. This was followed by Dentistry with 27.67 points, an increase of 0.17. Thai Binh Medical University set the cutoff score for the Medical program at 26.17 points, an increase of nearly 0.4.

In the South, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy recorded an increase of 0.4-0.5 points in the Medical and Dentistry majors, reaching 27.8 and 27.35 points respectively. These are also the two most popular majors at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, with scores of 26.57 and 26.49 points, an increase of about 0.2 points.

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/diem-chuan-nganh-su-pham-bao-chi-len-ngoi-9-5-diem-mon-van-truot-ar890294.html