This morning, more than 73,000 students in Ho Chi Minh City took the 10th grade entrance exam: Excited about the innovation exam

A group of students from Ly Thanh Tong Secondary School, District 8, Ho Chi Minh City encouraged each other before the literature exam at the exam site of Nguyen Tat Thanh High School, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, on the morning of June 7 - Photo: NHU HUNG

At the same time, 9th grade students in many provinces and cities across the country also entered the 10th grade entrance exam to compete for places in public 10th grade and specialized 10th grade.

Many confusions

In Ho Chi Minh City, this year more than 5,000 candidates failed the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City, while in previous years this number was nearly 20,000 people.

The principal of a secondary school in Binh Thanh district shared: "Not only students and parents, but also teachers at our school are nervous about the 10th grade entrance exam. Because this year is the first year students take the exam according to the 2018 GeneralEducation Program. The content of the exam has changed completely compared to before."

Similarly, Ms. Phuong - a math teacher in Thu Duc City - analyzed: "The first year of taking the exam under the new program, we did not have much experience so we were not as confident as in previous years.

The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has announced the exam structure and sample exam questions. We have also been instructed to create test questions in the direction of developing students' abilities and qualities, but all of this is just at the practice level.

Meanwhile, with the old program, the subject group had a lot of experience accumulated through each year of the exam. So even though this year the number of candidates has decreased a lot compared to last year, both teachers and students are still very worried."

On the evening of June 4, even though there was only one day left until the official exam, PM and AH, 9th graders in District 10, still went to the math tutoring center. "The teacher asked us if we wanted extra tutoring, and I agreed right away because I was so nervous studying at home. I heard that this year's exam would have more application questions than last year, so I was a bit stressed..." - PM confided.

Meanwhile, Ms. Minh (living in District 4) sent her child to a tutoring center and found a tutor to teach literature and English. Working in the education sector, Ms. Minh commented: "The new program focuses on students' test-taking skills and problem-solving skills. My child is the first student to study this program, and the teachers also admitted that they were still confused when switching to teaching the new program.

I found a tutor for my child with only one request to train him in how to take the test because the literature material is not in the textbook, the English test will have questions testing the ability to apply language knowledge to real-life situations... If candidates memorize and learn by rote, it will be difficult to do well on this year's 10th grade entrance exam."

Increased competition in specialized 10th grade

Candidates check their room numbers at the Vo Truong Toan Secondary School exam site (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) on the morning of June 5 - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, the 2025 enrollment season is the first year that four famous high schools in the city have stopped enrolling specialized 10th graders.

They are Nguyen Thuong Hien, Gia Dinh, Mac Dinh Chi and Nguyen Huu Huan High Schools. The reason why normal high schools have stopped enrolling students in specialized 10th grade is to strictly follow the regulations of specialized schools of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Last school year, these four schools enrolled 770 students in specialized 10th grade. So this year, the enrollment quota for specialized 10th grade in Ho Chi Minh City decreased by 770 students. Although Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia High Schools for the Gifted increased their quota, the increase was very small.

Specifically, Le Hong Phong Specialized School increased its number of students by 35 by opening an additional IT class (in previous years, the school only recruited one IT class with 35 students, but this year it recruited two IT classes with 70 students).

Tran Dai Nghia Specialized School increased its quota by 70, meaning it recruited one more specialized math class and one specialized chemistry class, each with 35 students compared to last year. Not to mention that previously, Tran Dai Nghia Specialized School only recruited students who graduated from junior high school in Ho Chi Minh City, but this year it recruited students from all over the country. Therefore, many teachers predicted that only students with special talents could pass the 10th grade specialized class this year.

Not only famous high schools, this year many high schools in the following top also have a lot of candidates registering for the first choice exam. Based on the enrollment quota and the number of candidates registering for the 10th grade public exam for the 2025-2026 school year announced by the Department of Education and Training, the 10 high schools with the highest competition rates in Ho Chi Minh City this year are Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School, District 1; Nguyen Huu Huan, Thu Duc City; Vinh Loc, Binh Tan District; Pham Van Sang, Hoc Mon District; Le Quy Don, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, all in District 3; Vo Truong Toan, District 12; Ngo Quyen, District 7; Nguyen Huu Cau, Hoc Mon District; Thu Duc, Thu Duc City.

This shows that the "race" to get into public grade 10 is not only difficult in famous schools in inner-city areas but also not easy in densely populated areas.

Graphics: NGOC THANH

New: Number of application questions increased

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that this year, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee allowed the department to adjust enrollment higher than the initial target but not exceeding 20% for specialized 10th grade classes at Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia schools. This is aimed at maintaining the number of students according to the school's education plan. This is also a new, positive point in the 2025 enrollment season.

According to Mr. Quoc, regarding the application question in the exam, the Department of Education and Training has actually included the requirement that candidates must apply the knowledge they have learned to solve practical problems in the 10th grade entrance exam for many years now.

For entrance exams from 2024 onwards, due to the application of the 2006 General Education Program, the number of questions at the level of recognition and understanding will account for 70-75% of the knowledge in the exam. The rest are application questions.

Candidates relax before the literature exam at the exam site of Nguyen Tat Thanh High School, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, on the morning of June 7 - Photo: NHU HUNG

From 2025, the number of questions requiring recognition and understanding will decrease to 60%, and the number of questions requiring application will increase to 40%. This adjustment aims to assess the ability to apply learned knowledge to solve practical problems - according to the orientation of the 2018 General Education Program.

"Since October 2024, we have announced the structure of the 10th grade entrance exam with sample questions for teachers and students to refer to. In addition, the Department has also instructed teachers to innovate teaching methods towards developing students' capacity; equip and train students with self-study and problem-solving skills, avoiding the situation of rote learning" - Mr. Quoc added.

Watch suggested solutions for exam subjects

Immediately after the end of the 10th grade entrance exams in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi , Tuoi Tre Online (tuoitre.vn) will post suggested solutions for the exams for readers to refer to. In addition, information about the exam and comments on the exam questions are continuously updated on Tuoi Tre Online . Please read on.

Many students choose private schools

Hong Ha Secondary and High School (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) has about 170 students in grade 9 this year. Ms. Ha Thi Kim Sa, the school's principal, said that every year, up to 90% of grade 9 students continue to study in grade 10 right at the school instead of transferring to another environment. Among them, many students do not take the grade 10 entrance exam or only take the exam to test their ability, not placing too much emphasis on the results.

Ms. Kim Sa believes that one of the great advantages of private schools is the resources for teaching, especially in terms of facilities. Thanks to that, the school can fully implement the subject combinations according to the 2018 General Education Program, including subjects such as music and fine arts, which are difficult to implement in many public schools due to limitations in teachers and equipment.

In addition to the main curriculum, the school currently has up to 25 clubs for students to participate in, ranging from sports, arts to academics. "Many parents today are not only interested in academic results but also pay attention to their children's skills development through extracurricular activities," Ms. Sa shared.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sang-nay-hon-73-000-hoc-sinh-tp-hcm-thi-tuyen-sinh-lop-10-hoi-hop-ky-thi-doi-moi-20250605212413982.htm