Math scores "destroy" university dreams: Nearly 340 high-scoring candidates stop

(Dan Tri) - Nearly 340 candidates, despite achieving a high chance of being admitted to university, still failed to graduate due to failing scores in math.

Candidates who scored over 8 points per subject still failed to graduate.

According to statistics compiled by Dan Tri reporters, among the 777 candidates who received failing grades (1 or below) in mathematics nationwide in the 2025 High School Graduation Exam, 339 candidates had total scores in the remaining three subjects ranging from 15 to 24.5 points.

This score falls within the threshold for admission to many majors and universities. This means that hundreds of students who worked hard to achieve high scores in other subjects had their university doors closed due to a small mistake in mathematics.

The most unfortunate case is that of candidate number 050071xx from Ha Giang . She scored 24.5 points in the C00 group (Literature 7, History 8.75, Geography 8.75) but only scored 0.4 points in Mathematics.

Similarly, three candidates from Nghe An , Thai Nguyen, and Quang Ninh also scored 23-23.75 points in the remaining three subjects but still received a failing grade in mathematics.

More specifically, there are 39 candidates who scored over 20 points in the three subjects but are likely to fail the graduation exam due to failing grades in mathematics. Among these, 6 candidates scored between 22.5 and 22.85 points, 13 candidates scored between 21 and 21.85 points, and 16 candidates scored between 20 and 20.8 points.

This subject has the highest number of failing grades and has set a record in the past 5 years.

List of candidates with high university entrance exam scores but failing the math subject (Compiled by Huyen Nguyen).

The number of math exam papers with failing grades in the 2025 high school graduation exam increased significantly compared to previous years (Chart: Huyen Nguyen).

An alarming picture.

The results of the 2025 mathematics exam show a sharp decline compared to the previous year, raising many questions about the quality of teaching and learning.

More than half of the candidates scored below average; out of over 1.12 million candidates taking the mathematics exam under the new general education program, 635,102 candidates scored below average (below 5), accounting for 56.39%.

This figure is more than three times higher than in 2024 (which was only 17.49%).

Basic statistical indicators for mathematics scores in 2024 and 2025 (Source: Ministry of Education and Training).

The percentage of high-scoring students also decreased sharply, with only 12.23% (137,741 students) achieving a score of 7 or higher, compared to 45.23% in 2024.

The average math scores in 2025 also hit a record low, with the most common score being 4.75 points. In contrast, the most common score in 2024 was 7.6 points.

The average score hit rock bottom at just 4.78 points, with a median score of 4.6. In 2024, these figures were 6.45 points and 6.8 points, respectively.

The most notable achievement was that 513 candidates scored 10 points. In contrast, in 2024, no candidates scored 10 points.

Only 5 provinces/cities achieved an average math score above 5.

According to an independent analysis by Dan Tri reporters, as many as 29 out of 34 provinces and cities had average math scores below 5 in the high school graduation exam. Only 5 provinces had scores above average: Hung Yen, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Ninh Binh.

Ranking 34 provinces and cities based on average math scores, Ninh Binh ranked first but only achieved an average score of 5.406 points. Following closely behind were Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, and Hung Yen… all of which were only slightly above average or below average.

The remaining 29 provinces and cities had below-average math scores. At the bottom of the list were seven northern mountainous provinces: Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son, Dien Bien, Cao Bang, and Son La.

Ranking of the 34 provinces and cities based on average math scores (Chart: Hoang Hong).

Expanding further across 63 examination boards (equivalent to the 63 former provinces and cities), only 13 boards had above-average math scores, including: Nam Dinh, Vinh Phuc, Binh Duong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Da Nang, Thai Binh, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, and Hai Duong.

Candidates in the remaining 50 examination centers scored below 5 in mathematics on average.

The results of the 2025 mathematics exam serve as a wake-up call for the education sector to comprehensively assess and review the quality of teaching and student assessment.

A teacher with many years of experience in exam preparation in Hanoi has frankly expressed many concerns about the structure and difficulty of the math exam in the 2025 high school graduation exam.

According to this person, the issue of difficulty level needs to be clarified further so that schools can make appropriate adjustments in teaching and learning, because the number of 777 candidates who failed, especially nearly 340 students who had fairly good exam scores but are at risk of failing to graduate, is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Ranking of the 63 former provinces and cities based on average math scores (Chart: Hoang Hong).

Further explaining the sudden surge in perfect scores, the teacher said that last year there were no perfect scores in math because the 2024 exam had five classic difficult questions that even many excellent students and students from specialized schools couldn't solve.

While the 2025 math exam is considered long and difficult, it doesn't include any classic challenging questions, so even excellent candidates can still solve them.

According to teachers, the group of candidates most likely to score a perfect 10 on the 2025 math exam are mainly students from specialized schools and outstanding students. The reason is that this year, the university admission regulations have undergone significant changes; students are no longer eligible for early admission and do not know their acceptance results before the high school graduation exam.

This forces students, especially those in specialized schools, to focus all their efforts on the high school graduation exam, including mathematics, instead of being complacent as in previous years.

This teacher argues that the surge in the number of perfect scores in math doesn't reflect an easy exam; a more comprehensive view requires looking at the overall numbers.

Besides analyzing the difficulty level and strategies of the candidates, this teacher also emphasized that the 2025 math exam has many other issues that need to be thoroughly examined and discussed to ensure fairness and accurately assess students' abilities in future exams.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/diem-toan-huy-diet-giac-mo-dai-hoc-gan-340-thi-sinh-diem-cao-dung-buoc-20250721024223340.htm