Graduation exam only 4 subjects, what will happen to university admission?

For many years, the admission method based on high school graduation exam results has been the main method among many admission methods used by schools. However, from 2025, 12th grade students will take the graduation exam according to the 2018 general education program, there will be many changes in the organization of the exam, exam questions and graduation regulations.

Natural sector may be affected

According to the high school graduation exam plan, each candidate will take 4 subjects including 2 compulsory subjects: literature, math and 2 elective subjects (from physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, economic education and law, information technology, technology - industry, technology - agriculture, foreign languages).

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that taking 4 subjects, including 2 elective subjects, will help students be more proactive in choosing subjects that meet their desired admission combination and their strengths, thereby focusing on studying better to achieve high scores and be admitted to the university of their choice.

Sharing the same view, Master Pham Thai Son, Director of the Admissions and Communications Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that the high school graduation exam with only 4 subjects can help students have more opportunities to focus on their strengths, thereby improving their graduation scores. This can help increase differentiation in the university admission process, when schools can require different combinations of subjects depending on the major.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Thang, Head of Training Department, University of Technology (VNU-HCM), for highly competitive schools, the combinations are mostly not many and often reflect the true nature of the field of study (natural sciences, engineering, culture - humanities, arts, medicine...).

For schools with low competition, using traditional combinations is enough to recruit students. In addition, other assessment methods such as ability, thinking... and admission based on high school learning process are also added, to evaluate the ability to pursue the learning process at university level.

However, representatives of many other universities said that the graduation exam with 4 subjects, including 2 elective subjects, could affect majors with natural elements, such as chemistry, mathematics, theoretical physics, biology, etc. These majors could be affected if students mainly choose social subjects to take the high school graduation exam, leading to a lack of diversity in the source of enrollment for natural science majors. Therefore, reducing the number of exam subjects could make universities rely more on independent competency assessment exams such as those of Ho Chi Minh City National University or Hanoi National University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.

Candidates admitted in 2024 complete admission procedures to Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade

Adjust the admission combination

The 2025 high school graduation exam will certainly have a significant impact on candidates' orientation, major choices, and subject combinations for university admission. Universities need to flexibly adjust their regular university admission methods to suit their needs, with the immediate goal of changing the subject combinations to help students register for majors that they have chosen since high school.

Associate Professor, Dr. To Van Phuong, Head of Training Department - Nha Trang University, said that if the admission combination uses the method of considering high school graduation exam scores, there will be significant changes. Normally, an admission combination has 3 subjects, schools will use 2 compulsory subjects and 1 optional subject. Calculating to come up with an admission combination that is both suitable for the training industry and ensures that the recruitment source is not limited is very important. In order not to limit the recruitment source, schools can even use only 2 compulsory subjects (math and literature, including the subject with a coefficient of 2 to create a 30-point scale). With the current trend, the combination of math, literature and foreign language (English) may be the most used combination.

In addition, schools may introduce combined admission methods to effectively and optimally use the results of the high school graduation exam, instead of using a single result. For example, Nha Trang University plans to use a method that combines high school academic results (transcripts) and student capacity assessment results (which can be the National University's capacity assessment test scores, high school graduation exam scores, etc.).

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh said that for Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, after receiving official guidance documents from the Ministry of Education and Training as a basis, the school will come up with new admission combinations and announce them to candidates.

University admissions should be announced after graduation scores are available.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Hai Quan, Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that in 2025, Ho Chi Minh City National University has agreed to implement three university admission methods: Direct admission; admission based on the results of the competency assessment exam organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University; admission based on the results of the high school exam. At the same time, Ho Chi Minh City National University encourages units to develop a combined admission method.

Ho Chi Minh City National University will also recommend that competent authorities reduce university admission methods and only announce university admission results after high school graduation exam scores are available from 2025.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thi-tot-nghiep-chi-4-mon-tuyen-sinh-dh-se-ra-sao-196241015205428567.htm