Parents in Hanoi regret that their children passed their third choice but could not register for schools that recruit 'overwhelmingly'

TPO - Many parents regret and wish that their children had failed all of their high school public school entrance exams so they could apply for 10th grade admission to one of the four schools that are recruiting "overwhelmingly" this year.

After announcing the first round of admission scores for grade 10 public schools on July 18, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training allowed two high schools to "overflow" their admissions throughout the city.

Minh Quang High School and Phuc Loi High School are recruiting 166 more students to study at public schools. The condition for Minh Quang High School is that students have an admission score of 12 points or higher and for Phuc Loi High School, the condition is that students have an admission score of 16.50 points or higher.

Phuc Loi is also a school that opens its doors to candidates when there are more than 100 additional recruitment quotas.

In addition to the two public schools that need to recruit additional students, in the 2025-2026 school year, Hanoi will put into operation two newly built schools. The Hanoi Department of Education and Training has assigned an additional 900 students to these two schools: Phuc Thinh High School (Phuc Thinh Commune) and Do Muoi High School (Yen So Ward).

This year, Hanoi allows 4 schools to recruit "over the line" with more than 1,000 quotas.

The condition is that students only need to have an admission score of 12 points or higher (equivalent to 4 points/subject) to be able to submit their application. Based on the number of applications submitted, the school will consider from top to bottom until the quota is full.

It is worth mentioning that in all 4 schools that recruit students citywide, also known as "overflow" recruitment like this year, the mandatory condition is that students must fail all their public school admission wishes before they can register.

This makes many parents regretful because their children had previously passed their third choice but were far from home and could not study.

Ms. H, a parent in Dong Anh (Hanoi) shared that her child's 10th grade entrance exam result this year was 15.5 points, failing her first and second choices. Unfortunately, her child passed her third choice to Tu Lap High School, more than 30 kilometers from home.

When registering their wishes, teachers advise students to take full advantage of the opportunity to place their wishes to increase the admission rate. In which, the first and second choice schools should be in the same enrollment area, the third choice should be placed at a low-scoring school to increase the chance of admission.

According to Ms. H., at that time, she was worried about the school being quite far from home, unable to take her to and from school more than 60 kilometers every day. Her child was at a sensitive age, and she did not trust renting a room. She was in 10th grade, but the teacher still advised that it would be better for the family to register all 3 wishes.

“However, when the Department of Education and Training allowed Phuc Thinh High School to recruit students, it was the school right next to my house and my child had enough points but did not meet the requirements to apply. If only I had not registered for the third choice, I would have failed all the choices and now my child has the opportunity to study at a public school,” Ms. H said regretfully.

Similarly, another parent in the inner city said that her child got 21 points in 3 exams but failed her first and second choices and was admitted to her third choice at a high school in Ba Vi.

According to this parent, when preparing to register for grade 10, the family did not intend to register for the third choice because the school was close to the high standard score, the school was far away in the suburbs, and it was impossible to pick up and drop off.

“However, the homeroom teacher advised the parents to let their child register for their third choice, which was a public school far away, so that the school could still count the percentage of students passing the public school entrance exam, so the parents agreed. Unexpectedly, this was the reason why the child could not apply to a public school with full enrollment. Letting the child study at a private school and get married is too difficult,” said the parent.

Be careful when making wishes

According to the announcement of the number of students registering for their wishes to enter grade 10 of public high schools in 2025, at lower-ranked schools, the number of students registering for their second and third wishes is exceptionally high. In some schools, the first wish is lower than the enrollment target, but the second and third wishes are 15 times higher.

Typically, Tu Lap High School has more than 6,000 candidates registering for their third choice, while only more than 400 students register for their first choice; Bac Luong Son High School has nearly 3,600 students registering for their third choice; Dai Cuong High School has nearly 2,800 students registering for their third choice; Luu Hoang High School has more than 3,100 students registering for their third choice...

The principal of a lower-ranking high school also admitted that nearly 5,000 students registered for their second and third choices, but he did not expect them to enroll.

“Because the students live in the inner city, the roads are not convenient. Every year, for the third choice, only about 5% of the students will enroll. The rest of the parents decide to choose another path,” according to this principal.

Many parents said that registering for their third choice is often just for show because the school is too far from home, and even if they pass, they cannot attend. Some parents even register “randomly”, not knowing the address of their third choice school, only knowing that it is about 40-50 kilometers from home.

In the 10th grade public high school entrance exam, Hanoi stipulates that each candidate can register for 3 wishes, in which wishes 1 and 2 must be in the same enrollment area, wish 3 can be in a different enrollment area.

After the exam scores are available, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will review the benchmark scores of each high school, then lower the benchmark scores or recruit additional students (if any). How many additional students will be recruited depends on each school and each year, so it is difficult to determine in advance.

Like last year, a rare incident happened when Doan Ket High School, which is a middle-ranking school, had to recruit students to fill its quota.

In the 2025-2026 school year, in addition to the two low-scoring schools, the city-wide supplementary enrollment also includes two schools that have just been completed and licensed to be operational this year. Hanoi's assignment of enrollment quotas and plans must be announced after the scores are available. Although the application requirement is 12 points, the school will take from highest to lowest until the quota is full, so the admission score cannot be determined yet.

From the actual admission story this year, it is thought that in the process of choosing wishes, students and parents need to think and consider carefully before putting pen to paper. The teachers' advice on which school students should choose is based on each student's learning ability, but it is the students and parents who make the decision.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/phu-huynh-ha-noi-tiec-nuoi-vi-con-do-nguyen-vong-3-nhung-khong-the-dang-ky-truong-tuyen-tran-tuyen-post1762144.tpo