Why did Ho Chi Minh City National University change the structure of the competency test?

Although previously announced the direction to allow candidates to choose 3 out of 6 subjects in the problem-solving part of the competency assessment test from 2025, in the end, Ho Chi Minh City National University chose a completely new solution. Why did Ho Chi Minh City National University make this change?

Candidates taking the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam this year

New direction of competency test structure from 2025

Ho Chi Minh City National University has just officially issued the exam structure and sample questions for the competency assessment exam to be applied from 2025. The official exam structure does not follow the change announced last year.

Specifically, in November last year, Ho Chi Minh City National University announced the orientation of the structure of the competency assessment exam from 2025, which still includes 3 parts: language use; mathematics, logic and data analysis; problem solving. Compared to the exam structure applied from 2024 and earlier, the adjustment of the exam structure is in part 3 when allowing candidates to randomly choose 3 out of 6 groups of knowledge fields including: physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, economic education and law. According to this orientation, the exam has the appearance of a new group of fields appearing in the 2018 General Education Program related to economic and legal education, candidates can choose the exam subject instead of being required to answer all questions in part 3 like the old exam.

However, in the official announcement yesterday, from 2025, the structure of the competency assessment test will be adjusted to match the 2018 General Education Program. Ho Chi Minh City National University will maintain the structure of the language and mathematics sections, while increasing the number of questions in these two sections to increase the reliability and differentiation of the test. The logic section - data analysis and problem solving is restructured into a scientific thinking section to assess candidates' ability in logic and scientific reasoning when solving real-life situations in the fields of science, technology, economics and society.

The structure of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam is specifically as follows:

Why this adjustment?

Explaining this adjustment, information from Ho Chi Minh City National University said that 2025 marks an important change in Vietnamese education, with the 2018 General Education Program being applied to all levels of education. The first batch of students of the 2018 General Education Program began graduating from high school and participating in university admissions.

The 2018 general education program ensures the development of students' qualities and abilities through modern educational content, focusing on practice and application of knowledge into reality. During the career orientation education stage, from grades 10 to 12, students participate in compulsory subjects and educational activities including: literature, mathematics, foreign language 1, history, physical education, national defense and security education, experiential and career guidance activities, and local educational content. In addition, students choose 4 subjects out of 9: geography, economic and legal education, physics, chemistry, biology, technology, information technology, music, and fine arts.

In theory, there are a total of 126 subject combinations that students can choose from. But in reality, the subject combinations chosen by high school students are very diverse. Statistics on subject selection in Ho Chi Minh City show that about 55-70% of students choose physics, chemistry, and information technology. About 40-50% of students choose biology, geography, economic education, and law. About 25% of students choose technology, while music and fine arts are chosen by fewer students, about 2-3%.

Given the trend of students choosing diverse subjects, maintaining the structure of the competency assessment test for the 2018-2024 period will be limited in accurately assessing the competencies of candidates studying under the 2018 General Education Program because the majority of students do not study enough 5 subjects corresponding to 5 areas in the problem-solving section (including physics, chemistry, biology, geography). Adjusting the structure of the competency assessment test needs to be done to suit the new approach of the general education program.

According to information from Ho Chi Minh City National University, since 2022, the University has developed and evaluated options to adjust the exam structure to apply from 2025. The new exam structure aims to maintain a fair and comprehensive admission method and improve the admission efficiency of training units in a diverse and constantly developing educational environment.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-dh-quoc-gia-tphcm-chuyen-huong-cau-truc-bai-thi-nang-luc-185241113170603105.htm