Candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City. This year, the admission scores of many universities have increased to a record high in the method of considering high school graduation exam scores - Photo: THANH HIEP
Statistics from universities such as Polytechnic, Natural Sciences, Economics - Law, International (Ho Chi Minh City National University), Ho Chi Minh City Industry, Ho Chi Minh City Technical Education, Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City Pedagogy... show that the admission scores of some majors have increased and decreased compared to 2024. However, the number of majors with increased admission scores is larger.
Many industries set new benchmark records
At Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, most majors have increased their admission scores by 0.5 - 3 points compared to last year, especially technology majors. The English language teaching major alone achieved a record admission score of 29.57 - an unprecedented score at this university. Many other majors at this university have admission scores above 28.
The benchmark scores of the majors increased and new records were also set at the University of Natural Sciences , Information Technology, and An Giang (Ho Chi Minh City National University). In particular, the computer science major at the University of Natural Sciences, all combinations had benchmark scores of 29.56 or higher.
The standard score for the math-physics-chemistry combination alone is up to 29.92. Thus, without priority points, a candidate who scores 9.97 points in each subject - a near-perfect score - will still fail the first choice.
Slightly lower, the artificial intelligence major of the University of Information Technology also reached 29.6 points - an unprecedented high standard score at this university. Although not strong in the information technology sector, An Giang University has two pedagogical majors with standard scores above 29 points: mathematics and history. This is also a record standard score at this university. Other pedagogical majors also have standard scores that have increased compared to last year.
At the University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University), Mr. Bui Hoai Thang, head of the training department, said that when the ministry announced the score distribution, the school predicted that this year's benchmark score might decrease, but the results showed that most majors had increased benchmark scores, with only a few majors having decreased scores. This shows that although high school graduation exam scores have decreased, there are still very good candidates applying for "hot" majors.
Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Trung Nhan, head of training department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, said that about 50% of the school's majors have increased admission scores compared to 2024.
Mr. Cu Xuan Tien, head of the admissions and student affairs department of the University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University), also said that the school's standard score for considering high school graduation exam scores has increased, with 9 majors having scores of 27 or higher.
Why did the benchmark increase?
According to the University of Science, University of Natural Sciences, University of Economics - Law, University of Industry of Ho Chi Minh City... the number of candidates registering this year increased compared to 2024. This caused the benchmark score to increase.
However, there are also many opinions that the bonus points, IELTS score conversion, and equivalent conversion between methods are the main reasons for the increase in standard scores.
Mr. Nguyen Trung Nhan said the number of applications to the school doubled. The number of applications to the University of Economics and Law increased by 71%, and the number of applications to the University of Natural Sciences doubled.
Ms. Hoang Thanh Tu, Deputy Head of Information and Communication Department of the University of Natural Sciences, said that compared to 2024, the total number of applications to the school reached 60,849 (an increase of about 2 times), leading to an increase in the standard score in many majors.
Ms. Tu said that last year the benchmark for the advanced computer science program was 28.5, and this year it has increased to 29.92. This major has about 100 quotas and only admits candidates who have won first and second prizes in national excellent students.
"The new point this year is that the school adds 1-2 points to candidates who win prizes in international competitions; excellent students at national and provincial levels, the 30-4 Olympics... Therefore, the standard scores for these majors have increased so much," Ms. Tu explained.
Similarly, Mr. P., an admissions officer at a university in Ho Chi Minh City, said that many universities allow candidates to convert their IELTS scores into English scores in their admissions group. Depending on the school, the common conversion score is 5.0 IELTS converted into 8 or 9 English points, 5.5 - 6 converted into 9.5 points.
Candidates who do not apply for admission with English will be given 1-3 points depending on their IELTS score. That is the reason why the school's admission scores are pushed up. "Candidates who are only considered for admission based on their high school graduation exam scores and do not have an IELTS certificate will be at a disadvantage," he said.
Parents and candidates are consulted at the choice day organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper in coordination with other units - Photo: QUANG DINH
Besides, he emphasized that the equivalence conversion based on the percentile table is the main reason for pushing the standard score of the high school graduation exam method to sky-high levels.
He analyzed that the high school graduation exam score is only one while the report card score may not reflect the true ability of the student, and the ability assessment score can be taken multiple times. According to this year's regulations, the exam scores of other methods must be converted to a 30-point scale with the high school graduation exam score as the reference.
"Each school has a different conversion formula. Relying on the national percentile table to build your own conversion formula will not be accurate because there is no scientific basis. Furthermore, when building the formula, each school gives different weights, leading to different conversion results.
From the benchmark scores of schools, it can be seen that schools that use many methods will have high benchmark scores for the high school graduation exam method, schools that only use one method for the graduation exam will have low benchmark scores - for example, the Medical and Law schools in Ho Chi Minh City.
Thus, it can be seen that candidates who only consider their high school graduation exam scores will be at a disadvantage when the converted scores from other methods are high, leading to an increase in the standard score for considering high school graduation exam scores," Mr. P. analyzed.
Expanding competency assessment exams, tightening high school transcript recruitment
Mr. Do Van Dung, former principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, said that in recent years, schools in the South have gradually increased their quotas for methods other than high school graduation exam scores, including assessment of capacity and academic records.
This year, the conversion is based on percentile to rank academic records relatively, but this method is still not accurate and substantial enough because academic records are easily "beautified" or do not reflect actual ability.
From there, Mr. Dung said that the reason for the high standard scores at Southern universities in 2025 is because the ratio of quotas for transcripts, direct admission and capacity assessment is high, thereby creating competitive pressure and pushing the standard scores to a high level.
However, behind that are disadvantages when students in disadvantaged areas have limited access to competency assessment, while the transcript method brings poor quality input, causing long-term difficulties for training.
"To overcome this, it is necessary to expand the national capacity assessment test locations, tighten the review of academic transcript criteria and balance the quota to ensure social fairness," Mr. Dung proposed.
Meanwhile, Mr. P. believes that quotas should still be assigned to each method and universities must convincingly explain the quotas for each method. Do not use percentiles for conversion because it is unscientific and unfair.
6 industries with absolute benchmark score of 30
Statistics show that according to the 2025 high school graduation exam score review method, there are 24 majors with a benchmark score of 29 - 30. Of which, 6 majors have an absolute benchmark score of 30. The majority of majors with a benchmark score of 29 or higher are pedagogy and information technology and artificial intelligence.
The new point of this year's school benchmarks is that universities in the Southern region have higher benchmarks than universities in the Northern region in the groups of pedagogy, information technology, and artificial intelligence.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-2025-vi-sao-diem-chuan-tang-ky-luc-20250823231511772.htm
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