What's new in exam preparation counseling for 2026?

Thanh Nien Newspaper will officially inaugurate the 28th Exam Season Counseling Program in Dong Nai on January 24th, 2026. The program marks the beginning of a series of career guidance and admissions support activities amidst several new developments.

N NEW POINTS IMPACTING STUDENTS' CAREER ORIENTATION

On December 10th, the National Assembly enacted a law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Education , the Law on Higher Education (amended), and the Law on Vocational Education (amended).

Students participating in the Thanh Nien Newspaper's 2025 Exam Season Counseling Program in Quang Tri.

PHOTO: NGUYEN PHUC

In the revised Higher Education Law, the central phrase running through all 46 articles is "Modernizing higher education, increasing the quality of higher education training." Several groundbreaking new points of the law emphasize training high-quality human resources linked to scientific research, innovation, and embracing new technologies; rapidly narrowing the gap with the labor market, using standards as a benchmark and tool for regulating and controlling output; strictly controlling training programs in teacher training, health, and law; and regulations on the training of resident doctors, specialists (Level I and Level II), master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in the health sector…

A notable point of the amended Vocational Education Law is the addition of a vocational high school model, aiming to strengthen career guidance for young people from the secondary school level, increasing the number of students after lower and upper secondary school entering vocational education. The law also includes new regulations allowing higher education institutions to participate in vocational education activities in certain sectors and fields that align with the development orientation of priority areas (arts, sports, teacher training, national defense and security) to ensure specificity and continuity between levels. At the same time, it allows higher education institutions to upgrade from colleges, and higher education institutions that merged with colleges before the effective date of this law are allowed to continue enrolling students at the college level for a specified period…

It is evident that many new provisions of the laws will impact the development direction of training institutions in the coming time. These are also important guiding principles for students in choosing their level of education and field of study, ensuring they not only suit themselves and their family circumstances but also closely align with future labor market trends.

The Exam Season Counseling Program is a place where students can get answers to their questions related to entrance exams, future career orientation, and more.

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

C. A SERIES OF PRACTICAL ADVISORY ACTIVITIES ON UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS

To date, the Ministry of Education and Training has published a draft Circular amending and supplementing several articles of the Regulations on the High School Graduation Examination. Accordingly, the 2026 high school graduation examination will basically remain stable as in 2025, while making necessary adjustments to ensure it is consistent with the two-tiered local government management model.

The Ministry of Education and Training has also sent universities and colleges nationwide a plan for implementing university and college admissions in 2026. Currently, universities are developing admission plans that closely adhere to the Ministry's regulations for next year, with a key point relating to whether or not to retain or abolish the use of academic transcripts for admission.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Education and Training's regulations requiring that "the subject combination used for admission must include at least 3 subjects suitable to the characteristics and requirements of the training program, including either mathematics or literature with a weighting of at least 25%; from 2026, the common subjects in the combinations must contribute at least 50% of the weighting" also significantly impact the subject combinations used for university admissions…

Taking place in a new context with many changes, the Thanh Nien Newspaper's Exam Season Counseling Program in 2026 will adjust its content and methods to suit the current situation, especially with the upcoming exams and admissions processes.

During the counseling program, special guests from the Ministry of Education and Training will provide information on new policies in the sector, the high school graduation exam, and university and college admissions in 2026. Representatives from organizations conducting separate entrance exams will also share information about the National University of Ho Chi Minh City's aptitude test, the specialized aptitude test of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, the V-SAT exam, the TestAs exam, etc.

In particular, leaders and admissions experts from universities and colleges shared with students information about specific admission procedures, trends in training fields, financial support policies, etc. Through this, candidates have reference information to make important decisions after completing high school, choosing the path that best suits their abilities and interests, family circumstances, and societal needs.

In 2026, Thanh Nien Newspaper plans to organize a series of exam season counseling programs at 10 locations. The opening ceremony will be held at Dong Nai University on the morning of January 24th. Following that, the program will continuously take place in many other locations such as Ho Chi Minh City, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Dong Thap, etc.

In addition to in-person activities, the program was simultaneously broadcast live on multiple channels of Thanh Nien Newspaper, including the print newspaper, thanhnien.vn , Facebook fanpage, YouTube, and TikTok. Thanks to this, the Exam Season Counseling program reached not only students attending in-person counseling in many provinces and cities, but also millions of students and parents.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tu-van-mua-thi-nam-2026-co-gi-moi-18525122522091885.htm