Note for separate exams

Candidates participating in the Aptitude Test of Ho Chi Minh City National University. Photo: Dan Nhu.

Currently, more than 90 universities use the results of the Hanoi National University's Competency Assessment Test (ĐGNL) as a basis for university admission. According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tien Thao - Director of the Hanoi National University Examination Center, the exam is designed with the goal of stabilizing, classifying and evaluating candidates relatively comprehensively. In 2024, the exam will remain the same, stable in structure, in fields, and in types of questions so that candidates can confidently review and take the exam.

The new point this year is the technical enhancement by increasing the scale of the exam, the exam location, and opening new exam locations to facilitate candidates. In particular, in 2024, the results of the National High School Exam will be synchronized with the university admission information portal of the Ministry of Education and Training. Therefore, candidates have the opportunity to apply early to universities using the National High School Exam results or apply together with the general admission round of the Ministry of Education and Training in the near future.

“Another new point is that we also use candidate identification technology at the testing sites. When candidates create an account, provide photos and citizen identification numbers early, it will limit errors and make it convenient for candidates to access and take the test right at the testing site, avoiding having to edit necessary information,” Mr. Thao shared.

Regarding the regulation limiting candidates to a maximum of 2 exams in 1 year, while ensuring a 28-day gap between the 2 exams, Mr. Thao said that in reality, taking multiple exams for the dental exam has no effect, specifically, it is difficult to change the exam score. Because candidates usually focus on taking the exam in April and May, if candidates register for the exam continuously, it will affect the chances of other candidates. This expert's advice is that instead of taking the exam many times, students should review well and seriously to achieve high results.

According to Dr. Le Viet Khuyen - former Deputy Director of the University Department (Ministry of Education and Training), limiting the number of times to take the exam will open up opportunities for candidates in different regions to have more opportunities to access the National High School Exam. The National High School Exam is an exam that determines the candidate's ability group according to the output standards, so even if candidates take the exam many times in a short period of time, it will not change the results but they need time to accumulate knowledge, then retake the exam to improve the results.

In 2023, Ho Chi Minh City National University recorded many candidates registering to take the exam twice to improve their results. Statistics show that out of more than 44,100 candidates who confirmed to take the second round of the 2023 exam of this University, only over 14,500 candidates registered to take the exam for the first time, the rest were candidates who took the exam for the second time in the year. The number of 67% of candidates taking the second round of the exam shows that many candidates registered to take the exam more than once to improve their scores. According to many students, this is unfair because in addition to candidates in big cities or localities near the exam location, who will have convenient travel and take the exam, candidates who live far away will have limited opportunities. In addition, the exam fee of eacheducational institution also ranges from 450,000 VND - 1.5 million VND/exam, not all candidates can afford to register to take the exam multiple times.

Mr. Khuyen acknowledged that currently, there are more than 10 separate exams organized by universities independently of the admission process. However, there are exams with results that are used for admission to many universities, while there are exams that are only used within the school, which is very wasteful and costs candidates time and money. Schools need to expand their connections and have a consensus to recognize each other's results in admission. At the same time, separate exams are organized in many rounds to serve university admission, so candidates need to consider choosing the appropriate exam and registration time to avoid waste.

Source