Many candidates and parents are "confused" with "percentiles"
The Ministry of Education and Training's 2025 university admission regulations and admission guidelines stipulate that training institutions must clearly identify and publicize the rules for converting scores according to percentiles between admission methods.
Missing data to convert
According to Associate Professor Dr. To Van Phuong - Head of Training Department of Nha Trang University, applying the equivalence conversion regulation between admission methods, as well as the entrance score threshold and admission score, will help improve fairness and transparency in admission.
"However, currently, most training institutions lack data and scientific basis to accurately convert admission results, especially between high school graduation exam scores and scores from competency assessment tests or thinking assessments. This has caused great difficulty in determining reasonable benchmark scores and ensuring fairness among candidates in admission methods," said Mr. Phuong.
MSc. Cu Xuan Tien - Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Department of University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University) - also said that the biggest problem when applying the percentile method is that the data is not complete, schools do not understand and apply this method uniformly (each school has a different conversion formula...) and each school has many admission methods and specific admission combinations.
Mr. Tien said that the University of Economics and Law complies with the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training on applying the percentile method in converting scores.
However, the school is currently facing some difficulties in building a conversion table between high school academic performance scores, high school graduation exam scores and Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment test scores - the school's three main admission methods. The reason is that current data on high school academic results is not enough to make a fair and scientific conversion.
When there is enough registration data, the school will apply the percentile for the admission methods and combinations, instead of converting the scores to a common scale. This method helps the school select candidates with the best academic ability in each admission method and combination, while ensuring fairness in admission scores between methods (graduation exam, capacity assessment, academic records) according to the input requirements of each major.
"Regarding the difference in scores between the groups, the school will base on the percentile table of the subject groups for the 2025 high school graduation exam announced by the Ministry of Education and Training and the percentile table of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam to convert between admission methods.
At the same time, based on the number of candidates registering for the school, the school will create a separate percentile table for each admission method and combination, determining the reasonable difference in admission scores between the combinations. The benchmark score will be announced separately for each method and combination, along with a conversion table for admission scores according to the percentile method," Mr. Tien added.
Dr. Nguyen Tan Tran Minh Khang - Vice Principal of the University of Information Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University) - said that the method of converting scores according to percentiles is necessary and reasonable in the current admission context.
Instead of converting each candidate’s score to a common scale, the school applies the percentile table announced by Ho Chi Minh City National University, based on the conversion framework for admission scores between admission methods. This includes comparing the score distribution of the 2025 high school graduation exam combinations, high school transcript scores, along with the student’s academic performance in previous years and the candidate’s admission application status.
This method ensures fair admission scores between admission methods, such as high school graduation exams, competency assessments, and high school academic scores, while meeting the entry requirements of each major. However, the school will publish the conversion table when it has enough official exam score data from across the country, in order to build the most accurate and fair percentile table.
"The school will use the percentile table developed by Ho Chi Minh City National University and announce details when ready. Applying the percentile not only helps candidates easily compare their abilities between groups but also provides a basis for making more accurate decisions on choosing their wishes, especially for highly competitive majors like the school," Mr. Khang emphasized.
Students asked questions about admission combinations and how to convert scores at the 2025 University Admission Choice Day - Photo: TTD
Increased transparency
According to Associate Professor Dr. Do Van Dung - former principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, many people think that it is impossible to apply percentile in admission because they think that this method does not reflect the absolute ability of candidates and can easily cause injustice between exam groups. However, percentile is not only feasible but also brings more fairness in the current exam context. This method has been successful in many countries.
"The advantage of percentiles is to help overcome the difference in difficulty between subjects and exams, while ensuring fairness when converting scores between high school exams and separate exams such as competency assessment exams. The Ministry of Education and Training has announced percentiles for 5 main subject combinations and encourages their use because this is the most suitable way to convert scores.
Although it may initially cause confusion for candidates, this can be overcome through detailed instructions. Compared to the old system, the percentile reduces regional inequality and encourages equal study of all subjects," Mr. Dung commented.
However, according to Mr. Dung, the system still needs improvement. "The Ministry of Education and Training should expand the percentile to more combinations, including specific fields such as arts and sports , combined with interview scores.
"Increase transparency by using AI software to automatically calculate and announce scores right after the exam, and integrate it into the registration portal so that candidates can simulate standard scores; provide detailed instructions to help candidates understand clearly and reduce confusion," Mr. Dung suggested.
Need support from Ministry of Education and Training
To ensure objectivity, science and consistency throughout the education system, Associate Professor Dr. To Van Phuong said that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to support schools in analyzing exam score data and announcing the results of score conversion between the main admission methods, as a basis for training institutions to refer to and apply in the admission process.
Similarly, MSc. Pham Thai Son - Director of the Admissions and Communications Center of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade - also recommended: "The Ministry of Education and Training should develop a unified conversion formula, based on a large enough database, to ensure fairness between admission methods and between universities".
Ensure ranking, fairness, transparency
That is the affirmation of the Ministry of Education and Training about the role of the percentile method, which the Ministry first required schools to apply in enrollment. The Ministry of Education and Training explained that the percentile equating method is a method based on the score distribution of two exams, determining the score at the same percentile for conversion.
In this way, percentiles convert scores into percentiles, which indicate a candidate's position within the overall score of a group. Percentiles are used to compare candidates in relation to other candidates taking the exam. This conversion method converts scores into percentiles, which places a candidate's score in a specific percentile according to the distribution of test scores.
Refer properly, avoid misunderstanding
The announcement of the percentile table of high school graduation exam scores according to some traditional admission combinations in 2025 is receiving much attention from candidates, parents and universities.
This is a positive step in making admission data transparent. However, the use of percentiles to convert scores between admission groups is causing many misunderstandings, leading to the risk of bias and unfairness in university admissions.
Parents and students learn about university admissions at the 2025 University Admission Choice Day - Photo: THANH HIEP
What is percentile?
Percentile is a statistical index that shows the relative position of a candidate in the distribution of test scores of a particular combination. For example, a candidate scoring 90th percentile in combination A00 means that the candidate scored higher than 90% of the candidates taking the same combination.
However, percentiles only have internal meaning, within each combination. Percentiles cannot be used to compare different combinations such as A00, C00 or D01... because each combination has a very different way of setting questions, score distribution and candidate types.
An important but often overlooked principle: percentiles are only meaningful when the data come from candidates who took both groups. Only when the same person took all the subjects in both groups with real effort can a correlation be established between the two score distributions.
On the contrary, if using data from two independent groups of candidates, for example group A00 and group D01, then any conversion lacks scientific basis. Because the two groups may have different abilities, learning orientations and test-taking goals, direct comparison is not possible.
Risk of skewed results
A common reality today is that many candidates only focus on reviewing the main admission combination, and only take the other subjects to "enough combination", without setting a goal for admission. This leads to the situation of doing the test "just for the sake of it", causing low scores and pulling down the entire score range of that combination.
As a result, there are candidates who score average but jump to a high percentile, not because they are good, but because many others do not try hard to do the test. If these percentiles are used to convert to other combinations, it will lead to a virtual benchmark score, reflecting the wrong level of reality.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-dai-hoc-cung-roi-voi-bach-phan-vi-20250724230439603.htm
Comment (0)