Math scores drop sharply, Physics is prone to 'abnormalities', B00, A00 combinations will decrease

This morning, the Ministry of Education and Training announced the 2025 High School Graduation Exam scores. Candidates visit https://tienphong.vn/tra-cuu-diem-thi.html? to look up exam scores.

According to the score distribution of all subjects this year, the average score of all 8 subjects decreased compared to last year, of which Math decreased the most. Specifically, the average score of Math this year is 4.78, while last year it was 6.45 (a decrease of 1.67 points).

Other subjects decreased slightly such as: Literature (down 0.23 points), Biology (down 0.5 points); History (down 0.05 points); Chemistry (down 0.62 points); English (down 0.13 points).

Math questions for university entrance exams

Teacher Dang Minh Tuan, University ofEducation (VNU Hanoi) shared that analyzing the score distribution chart for Math shows that the peak score range falls around 4.0-4.5 with more than 138,000 candidates achieving it and 4.5-5.0 with more than 130,000 candidates.

Besides, nearly 70% of candidates scored from 3.5 to 6.5 points, which is within ±1 standard deviation from the average.

The left tail (below 2.5 points) and the right tail (above 7.5 points) are both sparse, of which below 2.5 points: about 87,761 candidates (7.8%); above 7.5 points: about 72,908 candidates (6.5%).

Mr. Tuan assessed that the 2025 Math exam was quite difficult, as shown in some specific parameters of the average score being below 5; only 513 candidates scored 10, equivalent to 0.045%, which is very small.

Compare with the years 2022-2024 to get a comprehensive view, in which in 2022, the Math score distribution is skewed to the right, with many tests over 6.0, showing that the test is easy and has many high scores. In 2023, the score is skewed to the right with an average score of nearly 5.8, and the test is not clearly differentiated.

“By 2024, the average score for Math will be 5.5, slightly skewed to the right, showing better differentiation. And by 2025, the average score will be 4.78, the test will be difficult, with the best differentiation, clearly showing a change in the direction of the test to serve university admissions instead of just high school graduation,” according to Mr. Tuan.

Regarding university entrance, Mr. Tuan believes that the average score of 7 or higher in Math is not much (about 6.5%), equivalent to 73,000 candidates. Top university majors (Medicine, Pharmacy, Police, IT, Pedagogy...) will have a better chance of selecting candidates, with high classification ability.

Mid-range universities may have an easier time recruiting because many candidates are in the 5–6.5 score range.

Provinces with good input include Ninh Binh, Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City, and Hai Phong, showing the effectiveness of local education quality.

Mr. Tuan also believes that with differentiated questions like in 2025, the learning trends of students and teaching of teachers in localities will certainly have positive improvements in teaching and learning methods that are truly serious, and only real learning will have real quality.

“Teachers will be required to teach students a deeper understanding of basic content and diverse practical problem-solving skills, and there will no longer be any opportunity for teaching and learning based on rote memorization,” said Mr. Tuan.

Physics is prone to “abnormality”

Among the subjects, this year all subjects have decreased in average score, except for Physics which has increased in score. Last year, the average score for this subject was quite high at 6.67 and this year it continued to increase to 6.99.

Not to mention, this is also the subject with the lowest number of exams scoring below 5, accounting for less than 10%. The score most candidates achieved was 7.5 and it is worth mentioning that nearly 4,000 exams scored 10; nearly 54% of exams scored above 7.

According to a teacher in Hanoi, comparing the Physics score distribution with other subjects shows that this year's exam for this subject is unusually easier.

While the Physics spectrum peaks at 7.5, the Chemistry spectrum peaks at only 5.25; the Biology spectrum peaks at 5.25; and the Math spectrum peaks at 4.45. That is a huge difference between the subjects.

However, according to this teacher, the difference is not in Physics, because compared to the 2024 Physics exam, this year's score distribution has not changed much (the median is 7, the peak is 7.5 compared to 8.0).

“Therefore, the real problem is that the exams for other subjects are designed to be much more difficult than last year. This will have a huge impact on the admission scores for the B00 and A00 combinations,” the teacher predicted.

Difference in difficulty between subjects

Mr. Vu Khac Ngoc, a Chemistry teacher in Hanoi, said that based on the average score and the number of high scores, we can see a clear difference in difficulty between subjects.

Maths and English still seem to be the hardest subjects. Social Science subjects such as Literature, PE, Geography and History seem to be easier to score high, especially PE and Geography have a lot of 10s.

Natural Science subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, although still slightly to the right, have more differentiation, in which Physics seems to be "easier" than Chemistry and Biology. In particular, the score distribution of Math and English, although praised as good, compared to last year and compared to other subjects, shows that the exam is still more difficult.