Reasons why Group C subjects are gradually disappearing from university entrance exams.

khối C - Ảnh 1. — Candidates participating in the Hanoi University of Education's aptitude test in 2025 - Photo: NGUYEN BAO

Instead of the traditional method of considering the three subjects of Literature, History, and Geography, many schools are reducing the number of majors they offer or eliminating it entirely, requiring consideration of 2 out of 3 subjects and adding either Mathematics or English.

Universities are simultaneously reducing or eliminating admission criteria for Group C subjects.

The University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has just announced three admission methods for 2025: direct admission and priority admission; admission based on the results of the National University of Hanoi's High School Graduation Examination (HSA); and admission based on the results of the 2025 high school graduation exam.

The school uses 8 admission combinations, including C00 (literature, history, geography), D04 (mathematics, literature, Chinese), D01 (mathematics, literature, English), D06 (mathematics, literature, Japanese), DD2 (mathematics, literature, Korean), D15 (literature, English, geography), D14 (literature, English, history) and D66 (literature, English, economics and law education).

Notably, last year the university considered the C00 combination (literature, history, geography) for 26 out of 28 majors/training programs (excluding Southeast Asian Studies and Japanese Studies), but this year only 9 out of 28 majors/training programs will use the C00 combination for admission.

Seventeen majors have stopped accepting applications for the traditional C-block subjects, including: journalism; social work; Oriental studies; Korean studies; management science; public relations; information management; tourism and travel service management; hotel management; office management; international studies; psychology; information and library science; cultural studies; Vietnamese studies; sociology; and film and popular arts.

Previously, the Faculty of Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, also announced the discontinuation of the C00 subject combination for admissions starting from the 2025 admissions season, replacing it with compulsory combinations that include either mathematics or English.

Specifically, the school uses 6 admission combinations, including C03 (literature, mathematics, history), A07 (mathematics, history, geography), A01 (mathematics, physics, English), D01 (mathematics, literature, English), D14 (literature, history, English), and D15 (literature, geography, English).

Similarly, the Academy of Journalism and Communication officially discontinued the C00 (literature, history, geography) subject combination for admission based on academic transcripts and high school graduation exam scores starting in 2025. Last year, history was the only major at the academy that considered the traditional C subject combination, with the highest admission score at the academy being 38.12/40 points.

This year, Hanoi Metropolitan University has dropped the C00 subject combination for admission to law, logistics and supply chain management, psychology, and educational management programs; Hanoi Open University has also officially dropped the C00 subject combination for admission starting this year (last year, law, economic law, and international law programs all used the literature-history-geography subject combination).

The sudden announcement by some universities that they would no longer use the C00 subject combination for university admissions, about a month before the high school graduation exam, has caused anxiety among many students.

Lan Phuong, a student from Bac Ninh, expressed surprise upon learning that the University of Law and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have stopped accepting applications for the C00 subject combination in many training programs. Phuong is worried that her chances of being admitted to her preferred majors will be reduced, as many universities are only starting to announce this information close to the exam date.

"I've been studying and putting all my effort into the three subjects of literature, history, and geography since the beginning of high school, and now I've received the news that I can't make it in time because I already chose my graduation exam subjects a long time ago," Phuong said.

The university speaks out.

Explaining the changes in the admission criteria for the 2025 enrollment season, Associate Professor Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong - Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi - said that this year is the first year the high school graduation exam is held according to the 2018 general education program.

According to regulations from the Ministry of Education and Training, candidates taking the high school graduation exam will be required to take two compulsory subjects: Vietnamese Literature and Mathematics, and two elective subjects from the remaining subjects studied in grade 12 (including foreign language, history, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, economics and law education, informatics, and technology).

With the new high school graduation exam format starting in 2025, theoretically it could be coded into 36 graduation exam combinations (2+2), and 81 university admission combinations based on the combination of compulsory and elective subjects chosen by the candidates.

"Based on the reform orientation for high school graduation exam subjects to be applied from 2025, according to the admission requirements of each major, the requirements for foreign language output standards as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training, and at the same time implementing the internationalization strategy of training programs, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is strengthening the selection of combinations of subjects including Literature - History - English; Literature - Geography - English; Mathematics - Literature - English; Literature - Economic and Legal Education - English…," Ms. Huong said.

According to Ms. Huong, full-time students at the university also have the opportunity to study a second major from the training programs of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (for example: journalism, tourism and travel service management, public relations, psychology, international studies, hotel management, office management, information management, cultural studies, etc.), or from many other training programs in universities belonging to the Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

From next year, the number of common subjects in each subject combination must contribute at least 50% of the admission score.

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued regulations for the high school graduation exam starting in 2025, which increases the number of subjects students can choose from. Therefore, to ensure equal opportunities for admission for students from different regions, the 2025 university admission regulations remove the requirement for specific training programs; each major and each program will have a maximum of 4 subject combinations for admission; there is no limit on the number of subject combinations for admission.

However, to ensure the quality and necessary knowledge foundation for university studies, the university admission regulations stipulate that the subject combination used for admission must include at least 3 suitable subjects, of which mathematics or literature must have a weighting of at least 25%. From 2026 onwards, the common subjects in the subject combinations must contribute at least 50% of the total admission score.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ly-do-khoi-c-dan-vang-bong-trong-xet-tuyen-dai-hoc-20250605001249246.htm