What's new in the 2026 capacity assessment exam of Ho Chi Minh City National University?

The 2026 Ho Chi Minh City National University Competency Assessment Exam is expected to have no changes in the exam structure, only the time of organization will be adjusted.

The 2026 Ho Chi Minh City National University Competency Assessment Exam is expected to have an adjusted organization time.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

The second round of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's capacity assessment exam will be held earlier.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh, Director of the Center for Testing and Training Quality Assessment (Ho Chi Minh City National University), said that the 2026 competency assessment exam is expected to have an adjustment in time.

Specifically, the first round of the competency assessment exam is expected to be held on the last Sunday of March (unchanged from previous years). However, the second round of this exam is expected to be held one week earlier than in 2025 (in 2025 it will be held on June 1).

According to Dr. Chinh, the adjustment of the time for the second round of the 2026 exam is to match the general schedule of the Ministry of Education and Training.

According to the plan of Ho Chi Minh City National University, the test time and structure of the 2026 capacity assessment test will not change compared to 2025. Candidates will still take the test on paper to create convenience and ease of access for candidates in all regions.

What will the exam structure be like from 2025?

According to information announced by Ho Chi Minh City National University, from 2025, the structure of the competency assessment test will be adjusted to match the 2018 General Education Program. Ho Chi Minh City National University will maintain the structure of the language and mathematics sections, while increasing the number of questions in these two sections to increase the reliability and discrimination of the test.

The logic - data analysis and problem solving section is restructured into a scientific thinking section to assess candidates' ability in logic and scientific reasoning when solving real-life situations in the fields of science, technology, economics and society.

Questions in the scientific thinking section are constructed in the direction of providing information, data, facts, experimental planning, and experimental results, thereby requiring candidates to demonstrate their ability to understand and apply information, determine experimental results, and predict laws.

The 2025 Competency Assessment Test consists of 120 objective multiple-choice questions with 150 minutes of testing and is conducted on paper. The test results are determined by modern multiple-choice testing methods according to the question response theory. The score of each question has different weights depending on the difficulty of the question.

The test score is converted by section. The maximum score of the test is 1,200, in which the maximum score for each component of the test is shown on the score sheet including: Vietnamese is 300 points, English is 300 points; mathematics is 300 points and scientific thinking is 300 points.

In 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City National University’s competency assessment exam will have more than 218,000 candidates taking both rounds. 101 universities and colleges will use the results of this exam for admission purposes.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ky-thi-danh-gia-nang-luc-nam-2026-cua-dh-quoc-gia-tphcm-co-gi-moi-185251015204821597.htm