The conversion standard scores for the competency assessment test will have many fluctuations.

The test scores are lower than previous years, why?

The competency assessment exam organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University has been held for 8 years. Compared to the past 7 years, this year's exam has been adjusted to match the 2018 General Education Program.

This change is due to the trend of students choosing diverse subjects. If the exam structure of the 2018-2024 period is maintained, there will be limitations in accurately assessing the ability of candidates studying according to the 2018 General Education Program because the majority of students do not study enough 5 subjects corresponding to 5 areas in the problem-solving section.

On the other hand, adjusting the exam questions to accurately assess candidates' university learning ability, ensuring fairness and creating equal opportunities in accessing university education when students' choices of subjects are very diverse.

Compared to 7 years ago, this year the number of candidates taking the exam is the highest. However, this is the first time candidates take the exam according to the adjusted exam questions, and the exam scores are also full of surprises.

Candidates taking the 2025 competency assessment exam. Photo: VNU

Of the 126,297 candidates who took the exam, only 2 exams scored 1,051-1,100; 140 exams scored 1,001-1,050. The average score of the exam was 618.4. The top score was 1,060, the lowest score was 40.

This number, compared with previous years' exam scores, is lower in both average score, valedictorian score and high score.

In the first round of the 2024 exam, there were 93,828 candidates taking the exam, of which the average score was 643.4 points, 80 candidates scored over 1,000 points. The highest score was 1,076 and the lowest score was 203.

In 2023, there were 88,052 candidates taking the first round of the exam, with an average score of 639.2 points. The highest score was 1,091 and the lowest score was 238. There were 152 candidates who scored 1,000 or more.

In 2022, there were 79,372 candidates taking the exam, with an average score of 646.1. There were 117 candidates with over 1,000 points. The highest score was 1,087 points and the lowest was 210.

In 2021, there were 68,400 candidates taking the exam, with an average score of 688 points. There were 199 candidates scoring above 1,000, with the highest score being 1,103.

Explaining why this year's exam scores were lower, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh - Director of the Center for Testing and Training Quality Assessment (Ho Chi Minh City National University), said that each year is a different group of candidates, so their abilities will not be the same. In particular, this year's general education program is completely different from previous years, and the exam questions have also changed, so the exam scores are expected to fluctuate somewhat. However, according to Mr. Chinh, if we compare the score distribution, they are almost identical because the exam questions have been standardized. However, this year's score distribution is wider because there are more candidates taking the exam, and the exam questions have better differentiation.

Conversion benchmarks will fluctuate.

Mr. Pham Thai Son - Admissions Director, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that this year's score distribution showed that most of the competency assessment questions had good discrimination, helping to select candidates suitable for the admission purpose. The candidate with the highest score was 1,060/1,200 points, with 142 candidates scoring over 1,000 points. Meanwhile, the lowest score was 40, showing a large difference in ability between candidates.

According to Mr. Son, the number of candidates with high scores (over 1,000) this year is quite small, accounting for a small proportion, which is consistent with the goal of selecting excellent candidates. Compared to 2024 (phase 1), the average score was 643.4/1,200 and the highest score was 1,091, showing that the average score in 2025 tends to decrease slightly (about 25 points).

“This is because the 2025 exam questions are adjusted according to the 2018 general education program, with a new structure focusing on scientific thinking, requiring candidates to have better reasoning and reading comprehension skills,” said Mr. Son.

Candidates take the competency assessment test at the exam site of the University of Technology. Photo: VNU

Although the score range in 2025 is similar to last year and the average score is lower than in 2024 (618.4 compared to 643.4), the score range is wide and the classification ability is high. Mr. Son predicts that at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, the converted standard scores to assess the capacity of highly competitive majors such as International Business, Marketing, Information Technology, and slightly lower are the majors of Food Technology, Business Administration, Accounting, etc.

Mr. Phung Quan, Admissions Consultant at Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Sciences, said that because this year schools will have to convert scores for university admission, they will have to wait until the high school graduation exam scores and scores from other options are available. However, with high scores on the competency assessment test, candidates will have a better competitive advantage.

Mr. Cu Xuan Tien, Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Department of the University of Economics and Law, analyzed that the score distribution in 2025 is slightly left-skewed compared to 2024 and 2023, showing that this year's exam results are slightly lower. In addition, the width of the score distribution in 2025 is larger than in previous years (shown through the standard deviation), showing that this year's exam is better at classifying candidates, helping to clarify the difference in ability between groups of candidates.

However, the proportion of candidates with over 600 points decreased by about 12% compared to 2024, but because the number of candidates taking the exam this year is much higher than the same period last year (up 34.3%), in terms of absolute numbers, in 2025, there will be 83,741 candidates with 600 points or more, an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to 2024. This makes it easier for schools to consider admissions, but competition among candidates will be fiercer.

Mr. Tien predicts that the top majors with scores below the benchmark will remain the same or decrease slightly. The top majors will increase slightly compared to 2024. However, this increase or decrease depends largely on the targets of each major, the quantity and quality of applications submitted this year.

“In particular, according to the new admission regulations adjusted this year, if schools use the method of considering the scores of the competency assessment test, they must convert it to the same scale as the 2025 high school graduation exam and consider admission from high to low along with other methods (if any) until the quota is met. Therefore, the standard score converted by the competency assessment test score method will still fluctuate depending on the conversion method of each school,” Mr. Tien said, advising candidates to carefully refer to the conversion method, information on bonus points, and priority points of each school in the admission announcement, to come up with a reasonable and scientific registration strategy and arrangement of wishes.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/diem-chuan-quy-doi-thi-danh-gia-nang-luc-se-co-nhieu-bien-dong-2391676.html