Reduced content but less literary quality.

Yesterday (October 18), the Ministry of Education and Training announced the sample exam questions for the 2025 high school graduation exam based on the 2018 general education program. This is the second time the Ministry of Education and Training has released sample questions for this exam (the first was in December 2023). This time, the Ministry made adjustments after listening to public opinion about the inconsistencies in the exam questions.

Students taking the Literature exam during the 2024 high school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City.

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The sample test structure consists of two parts with three main focuses: Reading Comprehension (4 points, 5 questions); Writing, including writing a literary argumentative paragraph (approximately 200 words, 2 points); and writing a social commentary essay (approximately 600 words, 4 points). With this structure, the sample test assesses students' reading skills based on their knowledge of literary genres, writing skills, and social thinking. The reading comprehension material is from outside the textbook, helping students focus on practicing their essay writing skills.

From nearly two pages long with two readings of new texts in the first sample test, the second sample test reduced it to one A4 page with a single poem. This helps candidates avoid time pressure regarding reading and analyzing the text. Integrating the paragraph writing question with the reading comprehension text also helps candidates easily understand and write about the main points of the text, saving time on reading. On the other hand, with this integration, the test can easily replace the reading comprehension text of this genre (in the sample test, it was a poem) with a text of another genre (such as short stories, essays, plays, argumentative essays, etc.) without changing its structure, still assessing reading comprehension and literary argumentation skills.

The Ministry of Education and Training released the sample exam questions for Literature yesterday.

PHOTO: SOURCE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The essay question, which addresses a very topical and relevant issue (artificial intelligence) that interests young people, allows candidates to easily express their opinions and viewpoints. Furthermore, the grading rubric is quite simple and lenient, making it easy for candidates to score points. While the paragraph writing question only requires developing two main points, the essay question follows steps already familiar to students from their high school studies.

The Ministry of Education and Training published the first sample exam for Literature in December 2023.

PHOTO: SOURCE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Concerns arise because the exam lacks literary content.

With length limits (approximately 200 words for a paragraph, and 600 words for an essay), the sample questions will somewhat restrict the creativity and originality of the candidates' work.

Issues related to regional knowledge ( Hanoi, the capital city, in reading comprehension and paragraph writing), or highly topical social issues (artificial intelligence) will also present advantages and disadvantages for many candidates nationwide.

Compared to previous years' high school graduation exams, this sample exam reduces the requirements for literary argumentation skills, with only 2 points allocated to the paragraph writing question. This has led teachers to worry that if teaching in schools continues to closely follow the graduation exam format for a long time, it will neglect the skill of writing literary argumentative essays.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-tham-khao-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2025-mon-van-giam-tai-nhung-it-chat-van-hoc-185241019101428725.htm