University Admissions 2025: Many Candidates 'Stuck'

TP - After universities announced their admission scores, some candidates had trouble determining their admission wishes or some candidates were left wondering where they were.

Candidates for admission in 2025. Photo: NGHIEM HUE

Failed due to secondary criteria

Mr. Do Trong Tuan, Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi shared his concerns when his child had enough points to be admitted to the Food Engineering major, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (14th choice), but when checking the system, his child was admitted to the 16th choice, Vietnam-Japan University (Vietnam National University, Hanoi). Mr. Tuan informed that his child applied for the K01 combination (Math, Literature, Physics) to Hanoi University of Science and Technology based on the high school graduation exam score of 22.5 points. Meanwhile, the standard score for the Food Engineering major (advanced program) is 21 points, so his child had 1.5 points more.

After reviewing all the regulations of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the representative of Hanoi University of Science and Technology explained: In the 2025 Admissions Plan, there is a regulation that for majors taught in English (advanced programs) such as Food Engineering, candidates must meet one of the following requirements: Have a VSTEP English certificate (a certificate organized by universities in Vietnam, issued after being recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training ); have an ELTS certificate of 5.5 or higher or equivalent; have a high school graduation exam score of 6.5/10 or higher in English. According to Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Mr. Tuan's son scored 6 points in the English exam, so he did not meet the requirements of the major.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Trinh, Head of Training Department, University of Transport Technology, said that after knowing the admission score, some candidates sent letters and called to ask why they had more points than the announced admission score but were not admitted. After reviewing the conditions, among these candidates, there were candidates who were admitted to the above registration wish, so of course, even though they had more points, they were still not admitted to the school.

There are candidates who have passed the Law program of the school but do not meet the quality assurance criteria prescribed by the Ministry, which is that the Math or Literature subject in the admission combination must be 6 points or higher. Mr. Trinh affirmed that up to now, the school has received questions from candidates and they have been answered, and has not encountered any situation where candidates have been unfairly failed or unfairly admitted.

Errors mainly in admission input data

On a fanpage with hundreds of thousands of followers, a parent shared that they were facing an ironic situation: their child had been admitted to their third choice at the University of Foreign Languages ​​(Hanoi National University). The child had received a message from the school and had enrolled. On August 25, the Ministry of Education and Training opened a system for candidates who had been admitted nationwide to confirm their enrollment on the common system. However, on the Ministry's system, their child had been admitted to their fourth choice (Hanoi National University of Education). The parent was wondering which unit to contact to resolve this situation.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Education has just sent an official dispatch to the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) and many universities regarding the handling of candidates' requests to adjust their admission wishes. In the dispatch, the university stated: On August 22, the school announced the admission scores to the school. After that, the school reviewed the official admission list and found that there were cases where candidates did not meet the admission scores of the major according to each admission method but could not be considered for the next wishes because the virtual filtering work of the Ministry of Education and Training had been completed.

Realizing that this was a technical error and to ensure the rights of candidates, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training create conditions for candidates to continue to be considered for admission in the next wishes and requested some schools to support the admission of candidates' (next) wishes according to regulations.

Many candidates were upset that they had higher test scores than the benchmark score announced by the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City but still failed to get into the Law and Economic Law majors because the school changed the admission requirements. Candidates were upset because they met or exceeded the benchmark score but did not meet the additional requirements because the school “turned around”.

On August 26, Ho Chi Minh City Banking University issued a notice on handling candidates who scored higher than the standard score but have not yet received admission notice. Accordingly, for the majors of law, economic law, economic law (partial English), the minimum total admission score is 18 points (calculated on a 30-point scale).

Subject combinations with Math and Literature, or Math or Literature must achieve a minimum score of 6 points or more on a 10-point scale. For other methods, Math and Literature scores are converted to the corresponding 10-point scale. Thus, the regulations have returned to the old ones, ensuring that candidates who meet the admission requirements for the law, economic law, and economic law (partial English) majors will be considered for admission and enrolled at the school in accordance with the regulations.

On August 26, speaking with reporters, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Trung - Principal of Ho Chi Minh City Banking University confirmed that in recent days, the school has received feedback from a number of candidates about their "passing" to "failing" related to the secondary criteria.

"The school will properly resolve the cases and accept the successful candidates if they meet the requirements," said Mr. Trung, affirming that the school will not change the secondary criteria, this regulation has been announced in the previous admission announcement.

In addition, there are some candidates who the school sent notices and called but the information provided was incorrect so the notices did not reach them.

Regarding this issue, on the same day, Mr. Trung also signed a notice sent to candidates and parents. According to the notice, Ho Chi Minh City Banking University affirmed that although the benchmark score was announced at 18 points, candidates still had to achieve 6 points or more in the two subjects of Math and Literature in the admission group. Some candidates achieved a total score higher than the benchmark score but had a subject below the threshold of 6, so they were not recognized as admitted, leading to the misunderstanding of "passing to failing".

Speaking to reporters, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said that these errors were mainly due to the input data for admission (admission methods, conditions, admission criteria, evidence of candidates' priorities, foreign language certificates, etc.), some errors were due to manual operations by some schools during the admission process. The Ministry of Education and Training and universities and colleges all assigned staff to work on hotlines to receive feedback and questions from candidates and parents through many channels (phone, text messages and emails) and coordinate to handle and resolve them immediately for the legitimate interests of candidates.

The Ministry of Education and Training affirmed that the general admission system is operating stably, and all qualified candidates will certainly be notified of their admission in time to enroll on time.

Thousands of additional wishes

Although it is still in the first admission phase, some schools such as Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Hong Bang International University, Saigon International University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, Ton Duc Thang University... have also announced additional admission for some majors. The admission score is equal to the standard score for the first admission phase, ranging from 15 - 20 points depending on the major and the school.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-2025-nhieu-thi-sinh-mac-ket-post1772896.tpo