10th Grade Admissions: Hundreds of Thousands of Parents Stressed Out with Their Children

In order to reduce the heat of the 10th grade entrance exam for public schools in provinces and cities for the 2025-2026 school year, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are both making efforts to provide more places in public schools.

Lack of schools puts great pressure on parents and students

The 10th grade entrance exam for public schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City both took place last weekend with a large number of candidates, around 100,000 students, making it the most stressful exam to date.

Ms. Pham Lan Anh, a parent of a student at Khuong Dinh Secondary School (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) said that the 10th grade entrance exam is one of the events that her family is particularly interested in. "We are very worried when our child enters this year's exam with many changes. First is the change in the exam subjects, the techniques in calculating scores. Next is the significant impact of the regulation restricting extra teaching and learning issued by the Ministry of Education and Training when the children are in the final review stage. In addition, there are requirements for the new general education program, changes in the way questions are made...

Grade 10 entrance exams in big cities and provinces are considered the most stressful and pressured exams today.

However, what worries parents with children taking the 10th grade exam every year in Hanoi the most is that only over 60% of students can study in public schools. Thus, every year, nearly 40,000 students have to find places to study in private schools or vocationalschools , continuing education schools... For families of civil servants with many children, not being able to enter public schools will be a huge financial burden, not to mention the quality of study and student management for all 3 years of high school of their children cannot be assured if they do not study in public schools" - Ms. Lan Anh shared.

This is probably also a common concern of more than 100,000 families with children taking the 10th grade entrance exam this year. And having more opportunities to enter public schools when Hanoi announced that it would add 3 new public high schools has given Ms. Lan Anh and many other parents more hope that their children will have a place in a public school.

"For many years, Cau Giay district has been very stressed about the number of public high schools being too small compared to the learning needs of children in the district. Although it is possible to register for the second or third choice in another area, if there were more schools, it would be clear that my child would have more opportunities to study near home, according to the first choice instead of having to go to school too far away. On the other hand, with the tuition-free policy for all public students, going to public schools has become an important goal for many families, reducing the financial burden in times of economic difficulties and unstable jobs," said Mr. Mai Thanh Tuan, a parent of a student at Le Quy Don Secondary School (Cau Giay District).

Efforts to increase public sector targets

Understanding the pressure on parents and students, both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are actively investing in school facilities to increase enrollment targets for public grade 10. In Ho Chi Minh City, this year, out of more than 88,200 grade 9 students, more than 76,400 students registered to take the entrance exam for public grade 10. Meanwhile, the total enrollment target for 115 public high schools in the city is more than 70,070 students (accounting for about 79% of grade 9 students, an increase from 65% last year, accounting for more than 90% of the number of candidates registered to take the exam).

Comparing the quota and the number of candidates registering for the exam shows that the pressure of competition for the city’s public 10th grade this year has been somewhat reduced compared to previous years. In Hanoi, the number of candidates taking the exam is higher with nearly 103,000 students while the quota for public 10th grade is 79,740 students in 122 high schools.

In an effort to reduce exam pressure, in the 2025-2026 school year, Hanoi has increased the rate of students admitted to grade 10 of public high schools to about 64% or more, an increase of about 3-4% compared to the previous school year. Such an increase means that an additional 5,000-5,500 students will have the opportunity to enter public schools next school year.

Director of Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong

Another good news for Hanoi students is that although the deadline for registering for public grade 10 has ended and the Department of Education and Training has also finalized the quota for 122 public schools, the city plans to put 3 more public high schools into operation in the 2025-2020 school year, including Phuc Thinh High School (Dong Anh district), Do Muoi High School (Hoang Mai district) and a high school in Cau Giay district.

According to Mr. Cuong, for each of these high schools, the Department of Education and Training will try to assign a quota of 10-15 classes, with at least 450 students per school. Thus, the quota for public 10th grade in Hanoi this year will increase by about 1,500 to 1,700 students.

Next school year, Hanoi will have 5,000-5,500 more students having the opportunity to enter public schools.

Mr. Cuong said that in the coming time, the Department of Education and Training will assign additional 10th grade enrollment quotas to these public high schools. The Department will consider the option of "overflowing" enrollment (i.e. enrolling students not based on enrollment areas) after the students have their 10th grade exam scores.

However, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will also set a specific benchmark score, not taking all registrations, to ensure input quality. Thus, the number of students admitted to Hanoi public grade 10 in 2025 is already 64%, adding the quota for these schools will certainly exceed the rate. This will contribute to meeting the legitimate needs and aspirations of students and parents.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-hang-tram-nghin-phu-huynh-cang-thang-cung-con-2025060517143087.htm