Candidates review primary and secondary school knowledge to take the university entrance exam

Candidates take the first round of competency assessment at the University of Natural Sciences (Ho Chi Minh City National University)

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

On the morning of March 30, nearly 120,000 candidates entered the first round of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam. Speaking to Thanh Nien at the exam site of the University of Natural Sciences (Ho Chi Minh City National University) in District 5, Nguyen Ngoc Minh Anh, a 12th grade student of Math 2 at the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University), said that she mainly studied by herself. Minh Anh said that the most difficult part for her was Vietnamese and the least challenging part was history, because she had won the national excellent student award in this subject.

One notable point, according to Minh Anh, is that teachers in class advised her to re-read secondary school textbooks, not just high school textbooks, "because the knowledge in secondary school textbooks is the foundation, and high school textbooks only deepen" in the new program. This is extremely important because the knowledge in the competency assessment test does not ask advanced questions but asks evenly and widely in different fields, Minh Anh shared.

Examination room staff guide candidates

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

"In the exam room, I will do math and subjects that require a lot of logical thinking first because the beginning of the exam is when I am most alert. After that, I will continue to do all the easy questions, skip the difficult ones until the end of the exam and then come back to do them," said the female student studying math, literature, English and history.

Ha Duc Cuong, a 12A5 student at Tran Khai Nguyen High School (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City), said that the biggest obstacle when preparing for the competency assessment test is having to review a lot of old knowledge learned in 3 years of high school, "then comes the knowledge of primary and secondary schools (elementary, middle school-NV)". The most difficult, according to the male student, are the reasoning questions in the English section, word finding and spelling correction in the Vietnamese section. Cuong is also worried about the physics, chemistry, and biology questions in the scientific reasoning section.

Ha Duc Cuong, a 12A5 student at Tran Khai Nguyen High School, said he spent months studying for the competency assessment exam.

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

"There are questions that are only at the common level, but when I finish reading the questions, I still don't understand because I've never studied that subject. My friends who study combination physics and chemistry sometimes don't understand because that information may be outside of our curriculum," Cuong said. "In the upcoming exam, I will do the easy questions first, and circle the difficult ones later. As for math and natural sciences, I will also put them later because they take a lot of time to think, apply, and use the calculator."

In the first round of the 2025 capacity assessment exam, candidates will be able to take the exam in 25 provinces and cities: Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Kien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dak Lak and Ho Chi Minh City.

Discussion before entering the exam room

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

This year, the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment test still consists of 120 objective multiple-choice questions with 150 minutes to complete and is conducted on paper. However, the structure of the competency assessment test has been adjusted for the first time to match the 2018 general education program. Two notable points are that the test adjusts the content and number of questions for knowledge groups and requires candidates to take the test in all 11 groups.

This year, more than 100 universities and colleges have registered to use the results of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam for admission. Previously, in 2024, the exam helped Ho Chi Minh City National University recruit more than 9,200 students, accounting for more than 38% of the total enrollment target of the entire system. The maximum score of the competency assessment exam is 1,200 and the score of each question has different weights depending on the difficulty of the question.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thi-sinh-on-kien-thuc-tieu-hoc-thcs-de-thi-danh-gia-nang-luc-vao-dh-185250330104937905.htm