Candidates in Ho Chi Minh City complete the combined exam

Ho Chi Minh City has over 49,000 candidates registered to take the Natural Sciences subject combination exam, more than the number of candidates registered for the Social Sciences subject combination exam (Social Sciences subjects: History over 37,000 candidates, Geography over 36,000 candidates and Civic Education over 29,000 candidates).

Candidates at the Trung Vuong High School examination center (photo: Ty Huynh)

Xuan Vinh, a candidate at the Vo Truong Toan Secondary School exam center in District 1, said that she took the Social Sciences subject combination and plans to use it to apply to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Of the three subjects, History was the one Vinh felt least confident about: "The combined exam was similar to the practice exams at school, but some questions were designed to 'trick' students. I think I got about 70% correct in History, and I'm confident I got over 90% correct in Geography and Civic Education."

Quoc An, a candidate taking the Natural Sciences subject combination at Truong Chinh High School (District 12), said that among the three subjects in the combination, Physics was the one he was confident of getting a high score in, while Biology had many difficult questions: "I've done some past exam papers and I think this year's paper is a little more difficult, but still at a level I can handle."

Regarding Chemistry, Mr. Pham Le Thanh, a Chemistry teacher at Nguyen Hien High School (District 11), said that the exam was manageable, maintaining a relatively stable structure and level of differentiation, without much variation.

In the first 21 questions, all the theory is at the knowledge and comprehension level, mainly from the 12th grade curriculum. The highest level of difficulty is in the last 7-8 questions, which include comprehensive theoretical questions and chemistry problems.

Candidates discuss after this morning's exam (photo: Phan Trinh)

Regarding this Chemistry exam, Mr. Thanh believes that average and above-average students can easily achieve 6-7.5 points. Excellent students can score from 8 to 8.75, and only outstanding students with a solid grasp of the knowledge from all three years can achieve over 9 points.

Ms. Doan Thuy Nga, a biology teacher at Bui Thi Xuan High School (District 1), said that this year's exam tended to have higher points allocated to the theoretical section. Last year, the theoretical section accounted for about 8 points, while this year it's around 9 points, equivalent to 36 questions and 4 problem-solving questions. Of the 4 problem-solving questions, 3 were easy calculations and 1 was difficult. In the last 10 questions, one was a rather long and complex calculation, and 4 required a high level of application.

Candidates complete the combined subject exam (photo: Vu Huong)

Ms. Nga also stated that this year's exam, being the final year following the 2006 curriculum, also included many innovations aimed at assessing competence, clearly demonstrated in the last 10 questions: "The score range will likely be 6-6.5, with students achieving scores of 8.5-9 if they are mentally strong and have a solid grasp of the theory. The remaining 1 point would require exceptional performance because the content is quite long, difficult to understand, and complex; if students lose their composure, they will be unable to figure it out and solve it."

Source: https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/thi-sinh-tai-tphcm-hoan-thanh-bai-thi-to-hop-post1104438.vov