Viet Nhat and Ms. Nguyen Thuy Lien - Nhat's English teacher at Le Hong Phong Specialized High School - Photo: THANH CONG
Nguyen Quang Viet Nhat, a student in class 12CA2 at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted (Ho Chi Minh City), has just achieved a rare "double" by scoring a perfect 1600 on the SAT and 9.0 on the IELTS.
Studying 4 hours a day with "extreme focus"
Nhat had previously achieved an 8.5 IELTS score in the October 2025 exam but "was not satisfied and wanted to challenge himself." As a student specializing in English who had won a public speaking competition organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, Nhat quickly identified weaknesses that needed improvement and returned to achieving a perfect score after just over a month.
What few people know is that from the 6th grade until now, Nhat has never taken any extra English classes or exam preparation courses at any center. Nhat says he was lucky to have the opportunity to study with a foreign teacher at Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School (formerly Nha Be District). Those frequent conversations helped him confidently develop his speaking skills and learn proactively.
As for reading and writing skills, Nhật gradually accumulated them over many years participating in gifted student teams and academic competitions, with the guidance of his teachers. Every day, Nhật dedicates four hours to studying, "with absolute focus, constantly self-assessing and adjusting his learning methods," as he himself acknowledges.
After taking the IELTS exam for the first time, you reviewed and improved your test-taking strategies, practiced online, and reinforced your grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills with the support of your teachers. Being part of the national English proficiency competition team helped you "improve faster," as you mentioned.
Conquering a SAT score of 1,600 in 2 months.
Nhat also took the SAT twice. The first time, in August, she scored 1,560 points, but she wasn't satisfied, even though it's a "dream score" for many students. After two months of practicing online and self-correcting, Nhat returned and achieved a perfect score of 1,600 points.
"The math section of the SAT isn't difficult; anyone who's finished 11th grade can get a perfect score on math. The challenging part to get a perfect score on the SAT is English, because it requires a fairly broad range of general knowledge," Nhat shared.
Like with English, Viet Nhat also studied entirely on his own using free online learning platforms. Before that, he studied using online SAT preparation programs, learning from free materials, doing practice tests, grading himself, and solving problems on his own. Leaving the exam room, Nhat was very happy because he had done his best, so he wasn't too surprised by the perfect score.
His secret was nothing more than focused studying, evaluating his methods to see if they were truly effective and meeting his expectations. Speaking about her student, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Lien – an English teacher at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted – commented that he is a very persistent, patient, creative student with a constant desire for self-improvement.
While simultaneously coaching Nhật for the public speaking competition and teaching him in the Ho Chi Minh City English team for the national excellent student competition, Ms. Liên said that Nhật showed perseverance throughout the learning process, progressed with each lesson, and displayed a highly motivated attitude.
"Besides the teachers discovering her potential and aptitude, this result is also due to the discipline and serious academic environment that helped her easily hone her skills," Ms. Lien said.
Ms. Pham Thi Be Hien, Principal of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, said the school was truly delighted and proud to have a student achieve a perfect score on both the SAT and IELTS international certificates simultaneously. This outstanding achievement demonstrates Japan's exceptional foreign language proficiency as well as his comprehensive academic abilities.
"This demonstrates that having a separate teaching plan for each grade level and specific class model has equipped students with complete and accurate knowledge in line with current competency assessment trends, meeting the academic requirements for each exam, and preparing them for important national and international exams," the principal assessed.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tu-hoc-nam-sinh-17-tuoi-lap-cu-dup-9-0-ielts-va-1-600-sat-20251214095637775.htm
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