Universities struggle to develop enrollment plans for 2026

(Dan Tri) - The Ministry of Education and Training requires universities and colleges to announce their admission methods from 2026 in October. However, schools are not clear about how the Ministry will allow admission.

Candidates listen to advice on registering for admission (Photo: Bach Khoa).

At the 2025 Higher Education Conference held on September 18 in Hanoi, the Ministry of Education and Training requested training institutions to promptly announce enrollment methods from 2026 in October 2025.

The Ministry also said it will announce revised and supplemented admission regulations to thoroughly address the lack of fairness and reliability in admission methods and criteria, ensuring consistency with the 2018 General Education Program.

At the same time, the new regulations have a positive impact on teaching and learning activities in general education applied for 2026.

Also at the 2025 Higher Education Conference, the Ministry of Education and Training distributed a survey to solicit schools' opinions on whether to abandon or continue to maintain the method of considering academic records, as well as limit the number of candidates' registration wishes, instead of allowing unlimited as in previous years.

Thus, there are only 10 days left until the "deadline" for schools to announce, but according to records, many schools are still confused and do not know what to do.

Mr. Long, Head of Admissions at a public university in the South, said: "It is not clear whether the Ministry of Education and Training still allows admission based on transcripts or not, or whether there is a limit on the number of methods, or any new adjustments in 2026... Therefore, the school does not dare to announce it for fear of being "offside".

According to him, what schools fear most is having to develop a plan, but then the Ministry amends the regulations and has to do it again.

"This can easily cause parents and students to receive incorrect information and not be able to adjust their studies in time," the department head explained.

Similarly, Mr. Nam, Head of Training Department of another public school, is also in a state of anxiety.

“We have two options. One is to keep it the same as last year to stabilize the psychology of parents and students. This option is the number 1 priority. The second is to adjust in the direction of eliminating or reducing the academic records, but this is still waiting for instructions from the Ministry of Education and Training,” he said, adding that he did not dare to propose and announce the option.

Many other admissions officers are in the same situation and waiting for instructions from the Ministry.

"With only 10 days left, it's probably not enough time to develop a plan for the school. We expect to announce it at the school's Admissions Conference in November," another person said.

Many opinions expressed that if the Ministry does not require adjustments, the school will basically maintain the same admission method as previous years.

Students applying for university admission in 2025 (Photo: IUH).

Earlier this month, several southern universities "revealed" their expected enrollment plans for 2026. However, they have not yet been officially announced.

Among these, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry plans to enroll students in a completely new way. That is, a comprehensive admission process including high school graduation exam scores, competency assessment test scores, high school transcripts and other outstanding achievements.

Meanwhile, many schools basically maintain the old method. Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade maintains 5 stable admission methods including: Considering high school graduation exam scores, academic records, Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment test scores, combining Ho Chi Minh City University of Education's specialized competency assessment test scores and academic records, and direct admission.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University, is expected to reserve most of its quota for comprehensive admission, based on exam scores (transcript scores, high school graduation exam scores, capacity assessment), academic achievements and cultural, sports and art activities. Any adjustments, if any, will be technical factors such as component score coefficients and bonus points.

University of Finance - Marketing and Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City also plan to maintain stable admission methods.

Next year, the high school graduation exam will be pushed back to early June, expected to take place on December 11-12.

Sharing on the sidelines of the discussion on comments to complete the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education and the Law on Higher Education (amended) on October 10, Director of the Department of Higher Education Nguyen Tien Thao said that next week there will be instructions for universities.

* The names of the department heads have been changed.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/truong-dai-hoc-loay-hoay-xay-dung-phuong-an-tuyen-sinh-nam-2026-20251020091502420.htm