Latest regulations on civil servant recruitment exams

The Government issued Decree 85/2023/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 115/2020/ND-CP dated September 25, 2020 of the Government on recruitment, use and management of civil servants.

Decree 85/2023/ND-CP amends Article 9 on exam form, content and time.

Specifically, the civil servant recruitment exam is conducted in 2 rounds as follows:

Round 1: General knowledge test in the form of multiple choice on computer. The test content consists of 02 parts, specifically as follows:

Part I : General knowledge, 60 questions on understanding civil servant law, Party policies and guidelines, policies and laws on recruitment sectors and fields. Exam time 60 minutes.

In case of passing the input quality assessment results according to the regulations on input quality assessment of civil servants, Part I exam is exempted.

Part II : Foreign language, 30 questions as required by the job position in one of five languages: English, Russian, French, German, Chinese or choose 01 other foreign language as required by the job position. Exam time: 30 minutes.

For job positions that do not require foreign languages in the training and development standards and according to the job description and job position competency framework, Part II exam does not need to be organized.

The results of the first round are determined by the number of correct answers for each part of the exam as specified above; if the candidate answers 50% or more of the questions correctly for each part of the exam, he/she will be allowed to continue to the second round.

Round 2: Professional exam

Exam format : Based on the nature, characteristics and requirements of the job position to be recruited, the head of the competent recruiting agency shall choose one of three exam formats: Oral, practical or written.

In case of choosing the written test format, you can choose one of three formats: Multiple choice or essay or multiple choice combined with essay.

Exam content : Test knowledge and professional skills of candidates according to the requirements of the job position to be recruited.

The content of the professional subject exam must be based on the tasks and standards of professional competence and skills of the civil servant job title and must be consistent with the requirements of the job position to be recruited. In the same recruitment exam, if there are job positions requiring different professional skills and skills, the Civil Servant Recruitment Council must organize the development of different professional subject exam questions corresponding to the requirements of the job position to be recruited. Work related to the exam questions must be kept confidential according to the provisions of law.

Exam time: 30 minutes for oral exam (candidates have no more than 15 minutes to prepare, not included in exam time); 180 minutes for writing (not including time for copying questions); practical exam time is decided by the head of the competent recruitment agency based on the nature and characteristics of the professional activities of the job position to be recruited.

Grading scale (oral, practical, written): 100 points.

Based on the needs and characteristics of the agency or unit, the head of the competent recruiting agency decides on higher requirements regarding the content, form, and time of the second round exam.

In case of organizing a foreign language exam, it is not necessary to submit a foreign language certificate; if the result is passed, it is considered to meet the foreign language standards.

Exemption from foreign language test for the following cases:

+ Have a degree in foreign language (English, Russian, French, German, Chinese or other foreign languages as required by the job position) with the same training level or at a higher training level than the professional training level as required by the job position.

+ Have a diploma of the same training level or at a higher training level than the professional training level required for the job position, study abroad or study in a foreign language (English, Russian, French, German, Chinese or other foreign languages required for the job position) in Vietnam, recognized by a competent authority or automatically recognized according to the provisions of law.

+ Have a professional diploma with output standards in foreign languages according to regulations with value equivalent to or higher than the foreign language standards required by the job position applied for.

+ Have a certificate of ethnic minority language applying for a job position directly related to ethnic minorities or a job position working in an ethnic minority area; be an ethnic minority applying for a job position directly related to ethnic minorities or a job position working in an ethnic minority area.

If 2 or more people have the same total score in the final quota, the successful candidate will be the one with the higher result in the general knowledge test.

The Decree also amends Article 10 determining the successful candidates in the civil service examination.

1 - Candidates who pass the civil service exam must meet the following conditions:

+ Have a score of 50 points or higher in round 2.

+ The second round score plus priority points (if any) are higher, taken in descending order of points in the recruitment quota of the job position.

2 - In case there are 02 or more people with the same total score in the last quota of the job position to be recruited, the successful person is the one with the higher result in the general knowledge test in round 1 (if any).

In case it is still not determined, the head of the competent recruiting agency will decide on the successful candidate.

3 - In case of registering for 2 wishes but not being accepted in wish 1, the candidate will be considered in wish 2 if the job position registered in wish 2 still has recruitment quota after considering all wish 1, including considering the wishes of the person with the next lower admission result according to regulations.

In case 2 or more people have the same score in the second choice, the successful person will be determined according to the provisions in (2) above.

4 - In case a job position still has recruitment quotas after considering 02 wishes, based on the exam results, the Examination Council reports to the head of the competent recruitment agency to decide on recruitment for the person whose recruitment result is immediately lower than the recruitment result of the successful candidate in the job position at another unit but has the same standards and conditions as the standards and conditions of the job position at the unit with recruitment quotas, with the same Examination Council, applying the same form of exam or writing (round 2) and the same exam questions.

The person recruited in this case must have a score of 50 points or higher in the second round of the exam. For positions that have no applicants, the head of the competent recruiting agency shall decide on recruitment according to these regulations.

Those who are not recruited in the civil service examination will not have their exam results reserved for subsequent examinations.

Decree 85/2023/ND-CP takes effect from December 7, 2023.

Latest regulations on civil servant recruitment exams