Suddenly stopping admission to block C: Are universities violating exam regulations?

The sudden announcement by some universities to stop enrolling students in the C00 group just one month before the High School Graduation Exam puts candidates at risk of failing the university entrance exam.

The announcement by some universities to stop enrolling students using traditional admission combinations while there is only one month left until the High School Graduation Exam has made many candidates and parents worried and anxious because they cannot enroll in their desired majors.

"Universities are responsible for explaining to candidates and society about the admission methods and combinations to ensure candidates' rights, fairness in admissions, and to recruit students in the right major and with quality," said Professor Nguyen Tien Thao, Director of the Department of HigherEducation .

Sudden change

On June 4, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) announced on its website information on regular university admissions in 2025. Accordingly, the school has eliminated the admission combination C00 (including Literature, History, Geography) for 17 majors and only considered this combination for 9 out of a total of 28 majors/training programs.

The majors that have stopped recruiting group C include: Journalism; Social work; Oriental studies; Korean studies; Management science; Public relations; Information management; Tourism and travel services management; Hotel management; Office management; International studies; Psychology; Information - library; Cultural studies; Vietnamese studies; Sociology; Cinema and popular arts. These are all majors that have traditionally recruited group C students for many years at the school.

Previously, the Capital University also announced to stop enrolling in the C00 group in 2025 with 11 majors including: Educational Management, Social Work, Special Education, Law, Political Science, Business Administration, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Public Management, Cultural Studies, Literature, Psychology.

Similarly, this year, the University of Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has stopped considering the C00 combination while in 2024, this combination occupied the largest quota when considering admission to the Law major. The Academy of Journalism and Communication has also officially removed the C00 combination from the university admission list this year. Last year, this combination was used to consider admission to the History major, specializing in the History of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

A series of majors at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities do not recruit combination C00. (Screenshot)

Explaining the adjustment of the admission combination, speaking to the press, Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong - Vice Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi said that this is based on the innovation of high school graduation exams applied from 2025 and the admission requirements of each major, the requirements on foreign language output standards according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, implementing the strategy of internationalizing the school's training programs.

Did the school violate admission regulations?

According to many candidates, teachers, parents, and schools, when making sudden changes, they have not taken into account the rights of students because in order to prepare for the High School Graduation Exam and get university admission results, students must always clearly identify the admission combination and make an effort to review those subjects for 3 years, at the latest from the beginning of grade 12.

“The school’s announcement to stop recruiting a traditional group just one month before the exam is unfair and no different from ‘ambushing’ candidates, causing them, despite their abilities, to lose the opportunity to apply and face the risk of failing the university entrance exam after so much effort, just because the school informed them too late,” said teacher Pham Thi Thanh (Kien Xuong, Thai Binh).

Meanwhile, Article 4 of the current university and college admission regulations stipulates that the first basic principle in admission is "fairness towards candidates", including fairness in providing information and opportunities to apply.

Accordingly, candidates must be informed “in a timely manner to make appropriate decisions and best prepare for admission”, “no candidate will lose the opportunity to apply due to regulations unrelated to qualifications and abilities (except for regulations of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense that are specific to the fields of defense and security); or due to the admission process causing inconvenience and expense.”

This is not the first time that universities have suddenly changed their admission methods and combinations, causing frustration for candidates. At the 2022 Admissions Conference organized by the Ministry of Education and Training on March 16, 2022, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son emphasized that schools can reduce their quotas according to one method, but there needs to be a roadmap, and should not suddenly abandon or reduce them sharply to avoid shocking candidates.

To limit this situation, in June 2022, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular No. 08 on regulations on university and college admissions for preschool education, in which, at Point b, Clause 4, Article 6 stipulates: “The change or addition of admission methods or combinations must have a reasonable basis and roadmap; the quota allocation ratio of a method or combination used in the previous year must not decrease by more than 30% (in the quota structure of the industry or training program) except in cases where such change or addition has been announced at least 1 year before the opening of registration for admission.”

However, in March 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 06 amending Circular 08, removing the above provision.

According to Professor Nguyen Tien Thao, Circular 08 limits the number of admission combinations for each training major to no more than 4 combinations, but from 2025, candidates will only take the High School Graduation Exam in 4 subjects instead of 6 subjects as before. Therefore, in Circular 06, the Ministry of Education and Training amended Article 6 in the direction of not limiting combinations, in order to create the most favorable conditions for candidates as well as schools in the admission process.

According to Professor Nguyen Tien Thao, the Law on Higher Education stipulates that admission is the autonomy of schools. However, autonomy must go hand in hand with accountability and ensuring the rights of candidates. Therefore, schools are responsible for explaining changes and adjustments, especially when those changes and adjustments affect the rights of candidates.

Source: VNP

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/dot-ngot-bo-xet-tuyen-khoi-c-cac-truong-dai-hoc-co-vi-pham-quy-che-thi-20250605161142218.htm