Nearly 47,000 students registered for exemption from the high school graduation foreign language exam

With over one million candidates taking the high school graduation exam, the number of those registering for exemption from the Foreign Language subject accounts for approximately 4.5%. Some localities have a large number of candidates in this category, such as Hanoi (nearly 16,000) and Ho Chi Minh City (nearly 10,000).

According to regulations from the Ministry of Education and Training , candidates who are exempt from the Foreign Language exam will receive 10 points for this subject in the high school graduation assessment if they possess a valid foreign language certificate that is valid until June 27th. For English, candidates need an IELTS certificate with a score of 4.0 or higher.

Other foreign language certificates that exempt candidates from the exam include the following:

TT	Foreign language	Certificate of compliance minimum demand	Certification body
1	English	- TOEFL ITP 450 points - TOEFL iBT score of 45	Educational Testing Service (ETS)
		IELTS 4.0	- British Council (BC) - International Development Program (IDP)
2	Russian	TORFL Level 1 (Первый сертификационный уровень - ТРКИ-1)	Russian Science and Culture Center at Hanoi (The Russian center of science) and culture in Hanoi)
3	French	- TCF (300-400 points) - DELF B1	International Center for Pedagogical Research (Centre International d'Etudes Pedagogiques - CIEP)
4	Chinese	- HSK Level 3 - TOCFL Level 3	- Chinese Foreign Language Office (Han Ban); National Committee for the Test of Proficiency in Chinese; Confucius Institute Headquarters (China); - National Chinese Proficiency Test Steering Committee (Steering) Committee for the Test of Proficiency – Huayu)
		- HSK Level 3	Center for Language Education and Cooperation between China and Foreign Countries
5	German	- Goethe-Zertifikat B1 - Deutsches Sprachdiplom (DSD) B1 - Zertifikat B1	German Committee for General Education in Germany outside (ZfA)
6	Japanese	JLPT level N3	Japan Foundation for International Exchange (Japan) Foundation

A few days ago, thousands of parents and candidates were confused upon learning that the Quality Management Department of the Ministry of Education and Training would not accept exemptions from the Foreign Language exam if the certificate was issued after September 10, 2022. This is the date when many organizations that conduct IELTS exams and issue certificates in Vietnam have not yet been licensed by the Ministry.

Following the backlash, on June 15th, the Ministry issued a document approving the exemption from the exam for these candidates in order to "ensure the legitimate rights of students".

Students taking the 2022 high school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quynh Tran

The conversion of an IELTS score of 4.0 to a perfect 10 in the foreign language subject for graduation exams had previously sparked controversy. Many experts said the conversion was justified, based on the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam, but many teachers argued it was unreasonable because the nature of graduation exams and IELTS exams are different.

However, most agree that very few candidates take the IELTS exam solely to get a 4.0 to be exempt from the high school graduation exam; most use it for university admissions and studying abroad. Currently, about 100 schools use international language certificates for admissions, by converting scores and combining them with high school transcripts. Typically, schools require an IELTS score of 5.5 or higher.

Duong Tam

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