Do candidates benefit?

Add more private exams

In recent years, in addition to the method of considering high school graduation exam scores, universities have also used many other admission methods to enroll students.

In particular, the admission method based on the results of separate exams is becoming a trend as more and more schools organize these exams with hundreds of schools using the same results.

According to records, in the 2024 admissions season, many more universities will organize aptitude and thinking assessments for admission. The organization method, testing method, test structure, and the number of schools using the results of different exams will vary.

Candidates take the competency assessment exam of Hanoi National University.

In addition to the separate exams that attract a large number of candidates such as: Hanoi National University's Competency Assessment Exam, Ho Chi Minh City National University's Competency Assessment Exam, Hanoi University of Science and Technology's Thinking Assessment Exam, etc., there are also a number of other separate exams of the following schools: Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Hanoi University of Education, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and Vietnam-Germany University.

Notably, this year, for the first time, Can Tho University organized the university entrance assessment test (V-SAT). Candidates will take 7 subjects according to the admission groups: Math, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography.

The subjects will be multiple choice tests for each subject independently on the computer. The admission fields are all fields (except for Teacher Training, Literature, Journalism). The time to receive V-SAT exam documents is from May 20 to June 15.

Along with Can Tho University, 5 other higher education institutions, including: Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon University, University of Finance - Marketing, Banking Academy and Thai Nguyen University, cooperated with the National Testing Center and Education Quality Assessment to organize a conference on cooperation in the university entrance exam (V-SAT).

Increased pressure on candidates

The admission method based on the results of competency and thinking assessment tests is considered to increase the chances of candidates entering university. However, the increasing popularity of these tests will lead to increased pressure on candidates.

To prepare for their own exams, in addition to reviewing for the high school graduation exam, many candidates have to spend a lot of time practicing for the competency assessment test. Grasping the needs of students, many training centers for competency assessment and thinking assessment have also been opened, attracting a large number of students to register for the exam.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Hai Duong province said that according to the Law on Education and the Law on Higher Education, universities are autonomous in enrollment. Therefore, schools base on current enrollment regulations to develop enrollment plans, if considered from the perspective of legal regulations, they are completely allowed to organize their own exams.

The advantage of these separate exams is to create more opportunities for candidates to be admitted; at the same time, it also helps schools to be more proactive in selecting students for themselves. Because, for each industry or each training facility, there will be specific training characteristics, so it will aim to require specific skills from students. Organizing separate exams is aimed at that purpose.

However, Ms. Nga believes that the proliferation of separate exams will lose the meaning of the high school graduation exam.

On the other hand, this will also lead to increased pressure on candidates. Many students, in order to increase their chances of passing the entrance exam to their favorite major, take many separate exams, leading to having to study for both the high school graduation exam and 2-3 separate exams at the same time.

Besides, Ms. Nga also mentioned the reality of the proliferation of training centers to assess capacity to show that the pressure on candidates is currently extremely great.

“Not to mention, to participate in each separate exam, candidates also have to pay different exam fees, some schools charge up to 450,000 - 500,000 VND/time. If candidates register for many exams of many different schools, it means they have to pay a larger amount of money,” Ms. Nga said.

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