Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang have announced the third exam subject for grade 10: When will Hanoi?

On October 17, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City announced three entrance exams for grade 10 next year: Math, Literature, and Foreign Language. According to the Department, the exam is stable in terms of subjects, structure, and assessment level to help schools, teachers, parents, and students feel secure in teaching and orienting their learning and reviewing in the first school year after the merger.

This morning (October 22), the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City continued to announce the sample exam questions for teachers and students to grasp the structure, difficulty level, and have the necessary knowledge and skills orientation when entering high school, making it easier to review for the exam. Last year, this locality also tested 3 subjects: Math, Literature, and Foreign Language to enroll 10th graders.

The annual 10th grade admission plan is always awaited by students.

In addition to the two subjects of Literature and Math, the Department of Education and Training of Da Nang City has also announced the third subject of the 10th grade entrance exam for the next school year, which is Foreign Language.

Candidates can choose to take the English, French or Japanese exam. This is the second year that Da Nang has chosen Foreign Language as the third subject in the entrance exam for grade 10 public high schools.

When will Hanoi announce the exam plan?

In Hanoi, at this time, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training has not yet announced the plan for the 10th grade entrance exam for the next school year. As in previous years, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will have to develop a plan for the entrance exam for the first grade, submit it to the Hanoi People's Committee for approval, and then announce it to parents, students, and schools.

Last year, Hanoi announced the third subject of the 10th grade entrance exam at the end of February and the exam will take place in early June 2025.

In September 2025, Mr. Tran The Cuong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, said that this year, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training plans to propose to the City People's Committee to organize the 10th grade entrance exam later than last year. The reason is that the Ministry of Education and Training plans to organize the 2026 high school graduation exam from June 11-12, 2026, 2 weeks earlier than in 2025.

“This adjustment is to ensure compliance with the 2026-2027 school year schedule issued by the Ministry of Education and Training and at the same time create conditions for 9th grade students to have more time to review,” said Mr. Cuong.

Having a child in grade 9 at Dai Kim Secondary School (Hanoi), Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh shared his wish to know the entrance exam plan for grade 10 soon so that his child can confidently review. In addition to studying according to the curriculum in class, his child has reviewed subjects from grade 8 to prepare for the grade 10 exam. "This year, my child is taking additional Natural Science subjects to both solidify the foundation knowledge for high school and prepare for the exam plan with integrated subjects, so the schedule is full all week," said Mr. Tuan Anh.

Many parents believe that the entrance exam for grade 10 public high schools in Hanoi is stressful every year because the number of students taking the exam is very large, while the passing rate for public schools is low (just over 60%). With fierce competition, middle school students are "wound up" by teachers from grade 8, along with a dense extra-curricular schedule. When there is no exam plan, parents and students are even more stressed and anxiously waiting.

In 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training issued regulations on admission to junior high school and high school, which stipulate that the entrance exam to grade 10 of high school will include two compulsory subjects: Math, Literature and a third subject (or a combined exam). The third exam will be selected by the Department of Education and Training of each province and city and announced before March 31 every year.

A notable regulation of the Ministry of Education and Training is that choosing a third exam subject cannot be more than three consecutive years.

Last year, Hanoi and many localities chose Foreign Language as the third subject in the 10th grade entrance exam.