Math is 'historically' difficult, Literature is unpredictable: High school graduation scores are forecast to increase slightly, and decrease by 10 points

Candidates are cheerful after the literature exam at Hung Vuong High School, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

According to the plan of the Ministry of Education and Training, the local high school graduation exam grading committees will begin their work immediately after the exam concludes.

The essay grading committee will have an independent team for assigning codes to answer sheets and separate grading teams.

The grading committee will disseminate grading guidelines, organize a joint grading session for a number of exam papers to ensure consistency, and then conduct an independent grading round.

The multiple-choice test grading council organizes the grading process by scanning the test data and sending the original data discs to the Ministry of Education and Training for grading.

Local authorities completed grading on July 14th. At exactly 8:00 AM on July 17th, the Departments of Education and Training and the units that registered the exam will announce the results.

Math is "on par with 2018", Literature is unpredictable.

Regarding the math exam, Mr. Le Van Cuong, a teacher at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School ( Hanoi ), assessed it as more difficult than in 2023. Students with average academic ability could answer around 30-35 questions correctly to secure 6-7 points. However, scores of 8 or higher, especially 9 and 10, will not be common. In 2023, only 12 students nationwide achieved a perfect score of 10 in math; according to Mr. Cuong, the number of perfect scores this year will be even lower.

"The last five questions of this year's math exam were very difficult; they were also unusual questions that students who hadn't studied extra or done their own research wouldn't be able to answer," commented Mr. Cuong, using the phrase "tricking students" to describe the difficulty of these last five questions.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Chinh, a math teacher in Hanoi, assessed that the differentiating questions in this year's math exam were almost on par with the "historic" 2018 exam. Therefore, only truly outstanding students could achieve scores of 9 or 10.

According to Mr. Chinh, the average math score will be concentrated above 7 points. Mr. Tran Manh Tung, another math teacher in Hanoi, also predicts that the average math score this year will be around 6 points, with a median of 6.3 points. The most common score achieved by candidates is 7.4 points.

This year's literature exam was the only one where almost every candidate left the exam room smiling. Many candidates in major cities said they had "hit the jackpot" with both the literary works and the topics of the social commentary essay questions. Many teachers believe that this year's literature scores may increase significantly.

Accordingly, the predicted literature scores will be concentrated around 6-6.5 points. Students who have a solid grasp of the basics will find it easy to score 7-7.5 points. Notably, there may be more scores of 8 or higher than last year.

The average score for Literature in 2023 was 6.86 points, the median score was 7 points, and the most common score was 7 points. 7.3% of candidates scored below average. In 2023, only one candidate nationwide achieved a perfect score of 10 in Literature.

However, teachers also believe that literature is the most difficult subject to grade. Besides the fact that literature is inherently difficult to quantify, it is graded by examiners (not machines), so factors such as the examiner's perspective can also influence the grading.

The scores for the two combined subject exams are predicted to increase slightly.

According to teacher Le Dinh Hien ( Thanh Hoa ), students can easily score above 7 points on this year's history exam, and above-average students can achieve 9 or 10 points. Sharing a similar opinion, several teachers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City also believe that students who have thoroughly reviewed the material can score 7 points or higher.

The score distribution is likely to be concentrated around 6.5 - 7 points. The number of students scoring below average will decrease compared to last year, and in this subject, there may be more candidates achieving scores of 9 or 10 than last year.

In geography, Mr. Vu Hai Nam, a teacher at the High School for Gifted Students in Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), believes that the exam basically follows the structure of the sample exam. Students have an advantage with questions considered "easy to score points" that utilize the geography atlas. Therefore, achieving a score of 7 is not difficult. Several other teachers also believe that students can easily answer 30 questions to achieve a score of 7-7.5. Only 10 questions are designed to differentiate between students' abilities.

Although this year's Civics exam included some highly challenging questions, it is still predicted to have a significantly higher average score and many candidates achieving scores of 9 or 10. In 2023, the average score for this subject was 8.20. The most common score was 9, and 14,693 candidates achieved a perfect score of 10.

Teachers commented that the scores for all three subjects in the natural science combined exam might increase slightly, but the number of students scoring 9 or 10 will decrease compared to last year.

According to Mr. Tran Van Huy, a teacher at Phan Huy Chu High School (Hanoi), this year's physics exam has about 30 questions on basic knowledge; those who have a solid understanding of the textbook material should be able to answer all 30 questions correctly.

The last 10 questions in the exam show a clear differentiation in difficulty, requiring significant time for calculation and reasoning. Among them, 5 are difficult, demanding students to practice extensively, think quickly and efficiently to complete the task within the time limit, and combine their knowledge of physics from previous years.

Teacher Huy predicted that there would be few perfect scores (10/10) in physics. Some other teachers believe that this year there will be many candidates scoring between 7 and 9, and perhaps fewer perfect scores (10/10).

According to Mr. Pham Thanh Tung, a chemistry teacher at Tuyensinh247, the average score for chemistry this year may be about 0.5 points higher than in 2023. Many teachers believe that the most difficult part of the chemistry exam was the last 7-8 questions on general theory and chemistry problems. Many students may achieve scores of 6-7.5. High-achieving students might score 8-8.75, but only truly outstanding students will get a score of 9 or higher.

Changes in the "worst-ranked" subject?

In previous years, Biology was the lowest-scoring subject along with History, but this year, teachers predict that scores will increase. The exam has included more theoretical questions, which, according to teachers, will benefit students who have a strong grasp of theory. The score distribution is likely to be around 6-6.5 points. In contrast, the average score for Biology in 2023 was 6.39. 135 students achieved a perfect score of 10.

Can English narrow the gap?

In recent years, English has been the subject with the worst and most unusual score distribution, as it's easy to see the significant difference between two groups of candidates. The group with scores of 8 or higher is concentrated in major cities, while the other group mostly scores around 5 points.

In 2023, the average score for English was 5.45, with a median score of 5.2. The most common score was 4.2. 494 candidates achieved a perfect score of 10.

This year, the regional gap in English scores may improve, with the predicted distribution of English scores concentrated in the 5.5-6.5 range, and scores of 9-10 likely to be more common.

Approaching the exam format of 2025.

Compared to the overall scores in the 2023 exams, this year's high school graduation exam scores may have improved in some subjects that were previously at the bottom of the rankings, such as history and biology, but there hasn't been a dramatic increase.

A cheerful candidate from Hanoi leaves the examination center after completing the last exam - Photo: NAM TRAN

In 2023, the whole country had over 16,300 perfect scores (10 out of 10) (almost three times more than in 2022). This "flood of 9s and 10s" may decrease this year. In their comments on the exam questions, some high school teachers believe that the questions in some subjects have begun to approach the style of the 2025 exam (the first year of testing under the 2018 General Education Program). For example, the history exam included questions that provided students with source material to read and then required them to answer related questions.

Similarly, the civics subject also includes questions that provide information for candidates to determine whether something is true or false...

Analysis of exam scores suggests that the cut-off scores for admission combinations may increase slightly. However, the increase or decrease in cut-off scores depends heavily on each educational institution's admission plan and how many slots they allocate for admission based on high school graduation exam scores.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/toan-kho-lich-su-van-kho-luong-du-bao-diem-tot-nghiep-thpt-tang-nhe-giam-diem-10-20240629222709016.htm