Reforming the 10th grade exam.

In the first year of the exam based on the 2018 General Education Program, teachers and experts have offered many initial comments and notes on the exam design this year.

T. ANALYZING TEXTBOOK MATERIALS , NO MORE "GUESSING" ESSAY QUESTIONS

Among the many provinces and cities that held entrance exams for 10th grade this year, none of the local literature exam questions used material from the textbook, unlike in previous years.

Students in Ho Chi Minh City officially began their 2025 10th grade entrance exam this morning, with the literature exam featuring, for the first time, source material not taken from textbooks.

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

In Hanoi , although the exam takes place this weekend, teachers and students alike affirm that they have been "prepared" for the absence of familiar, repeatedly studied material from textbooks, thus eliminating the phenomenon of "guessing" which literary works will appear on the exam.

Ms. Tran Thanh Mai, a teacher at Chu Van An Secondary School (Thanh Tri District, Hanoi), said that from grade 6 onwards, both teachers and students have been thoroughly briefed on this. Periodic tests from grade 6 onwards have been selected from completely new materials, not taken from textbooks. Instead of teaching knowledge based on a specific work, teachers equip students with skills in reading comprehension, identifying genres, understanding the content, theme, and message of the text…

In Vinh Phuc , students have just finished their 10th grade exams. Teacher Duong Khanh Toan from Nguyen Thi Giang High School (Vinh Tuong District) said that the literature exam was completely new compared to previous years. For example, the writing section (6 points) consisted of two questions. Question 1 (2 points) required students to write a literary argumentative essay of about 200 words on a text not found in the textbook. Students needed to apply their reading comprehension skills and ability to appreciate literary texts to briefly present the distinctive features of the content and art of the two stanzas mentioned in the question, based on an overview of the entire text.

Question 2 (4 points) requires writing a social commentary essay of approximately 500 words, presenting your thoughts and solutions to address a pressing issue in life: the proactiveness of students today.

In Bac Giang, the literature exam was considered by both teachers and students to be closely related to real life. The materials were taken outside the textbook, were highly educational , and the content was connected to the Thuong River and landmarks of Bac Giang province. The exam consisted of two parts: reading comprehension and writing, with questions about vocabulary, paragraph writing techniques, explaining the meaning of the work, and presenting the candidate's perspective on overcoming fear in life.

In Nghe An, Ms. Kim Huong, from Nghi An Secondary School (Vinh City), shared her personal feeling with the press that the exam was not difficult and closely followed the structure of the sample exam. However, this exam surprised not only students but also teachers. Ms. Kim Huong said that in the reading comprehension section, the essay question about "preserving folk games" was a practical question for students about culture, an issue that is currently lacking among young people. But this content was outside the thinking of students and teachers. For a long time, schools have mainly taught social commentary topics revolving around events related to reality, such as history, peace stories, and issues concerning the younger generation. Therefore, an exam question that was outside their expectations would be difficult for students.

UNDERSTANDING REAL-LIFE QUESTIONS IN MATH EXAMS

For mathematics, both the official and sample exam papers for this year's 10th grade entrance exam have undergone significant changes. Notably, the exam includes questions related to real-life situations.

The 2025 10th grade entrance exam will be the first year the exam questions follow the 2018 General Education Program.

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

For example, the recent math exam in Bac Giang included several questions related to real-world situations, such as calculating the entrance fee to an eco-tourism area; calculating the height of a television tower; and compiling student weight statistics. Ms. Luu Thi My, a math teacher at Canh Thuy Secondary School (Bac Giang City), believes that some questions requiring the integration of mathematical application skills into practical situations enhance the assessment of logical thinking, rather than simply requiring students to correctly follow formulas.

In Nghe An, teacher Tran Son Hong from Dang Thai Mai Secondary School (Vinh City) commented that the math exam reflected the spirit of curriculum reform, innovation in testing and evaluation methods, and increased practicality; it assessed students' specific math abilities as well as other general abilities. The exam was excellent in its practical problems, with six problems across three knowledge areas: algebra, geometry, and probability and statistics. This demonstrated the application of mathematics, requiring students to have genuine practical knowledge, and highlighted the novelty of the exam compared to previous years.

In Hanoi, based on the sample exam provided by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, Ms. Pham Thi Kim Hue, Vice Principal and Math Teacher at Chuong Duong Secondary School (Hoan Kiem District), analyzed the changes in exam question format and provided guidance for exam preparation. Ms. Hue specifically noted the importance of practical math problems. This year's exam may incorporate material related to real-life situations such as bank interest rates, electricity and water bills, strategies for using internet and mobile phone services, and taking taxis in the most advantageous way…

"However, this isn't a difficult type of question, so be careful and read the questions thoroughly. You need to master reading comprehension skills and find keywords to guide your approach," Ms. Hue shared, advising students to choose the questions they are confident in to answer first.

Students are preparing for the new format of the 10th grade exam.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

THE EXAM QUESTIONING METHOD STILL REQUIRES STUDENTS TO STUDY MORE.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuong, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, when directing the implementation of the new regulations on tutoring and supplementary classes according to Circular 29, repeatedly emphasized the requirement for educational institutions to continue innovating methods and forms of testing and evaluation in the direction of developing students' qualities and competencies. The design of regular and periodic tests and assessments, entrance exams for the first grade, and entrance exams for grade 10 should be consistent with the required learning outcomes of the 2018 General Education Program, without putting pressure on students to attend extra classes.

However, looking at this year's exam format, especially the entrance exams for specialized high schools affiliated with universities, it shows that the expectation of passing the 10th grade exam without extra tutoring has not been fully realized.

Commenting on the way a specialized high school affiliated with a university in Hanoi designed its math exam this year, Professor Le Anh Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, said that the specialized exam questions were basically elaborately designed, highly difficult, and had good "classification ability." However, he also shared his "serious concerns" because: "If we don't adjust the direction of exam design, we will continue to maintain a learning environment where exam preparation becomes a burden, and technical preparation is equated with thinking ability. These types of questions are increasingly geared towards students who have practiced hundreds of sample problems, rather than those with natural thinking, who love mathematics but haven't had access to advanced exam preparation programs. An entrance exam for a specialized high school should aim to find students with potential and independent thinking – not just to select the best problem solver."

Mr. Nguyen Tan, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Hue City, also stated that in order to avoid creating pressure for extra tutoring, the entrance exam for grade 10 should not be too difficult, should not be tricky, and should closely adhere to the required learning objectives of the curriculum. In practice, applying this approach has shown that the exam results are ranked from highest to lowest, thus still achieving admission without causing stress to students.

Assessing the competencies and skills necessary for students entering high school.

Regarding the first 10th grade entrance exam implemented under the 2018 General Education Program, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, stated that the assessment focuses on the required learning outcomes of subjects at the lower secondary level, primarily grades 8 and 9. The content of the assessment aims to help students orient themselves on some necessary knowledge and skills when entering upper secondary school.

According to Mr. Quoc, the literature exam was designed to integrate the assessment of reading comprehension and writing skills, with the content in the writing section relating to the texts in the reading comprehension section.

This year's math exam aims to assess mathematical abilities such as mathematical thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, and mathematical modeling.

In English, the goal of the entrance exam will be to assess language proficiency not only based on students' memorized grammar and vocabulary but also their ability to understand and apply language knowledge in appropriate contexts, especially real-life situations. Of the 40 questions, two will be new questions requiring students to write appropriate phrases based on given information. This question tests the ability to read dictionary annotations to find linguistic information and apply that knowledge.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc also clarified that the distribution of knowledge levels in the exam questions under the new curriculum has been adjusted, reducing the proportion of knowledge-based and comprehension questions and increasing the proportion of application questions. Specifically, for entrance exams from 2024 onwards, in the 10th grade exam, knowledge-based and comprehension questions will account for 70-75% of the knowledge. From 2025, the knowledge-based and comprehension questions will decrease to 60%, and the proportion of questions requiring application will increase to 40%. This adjustment aims to assess students' practical application abilities in accordance with the new curriculum's orientation.

Bich Thanh

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-moi-de-thi-lop-10-18525060519412046.htm