Eliminate foreign language certificate admission?

Candidates study university admission information. Photo: Foreign Trade University.

Many schools still prioritize admission

Dr. Le Dinh Tung - Head of Training Management Department, Hanoi Medical University said: In the 2024 enrollment season, the school will maintain the same enrollment methods as in 2023, including direct admission, considering high school graduation exam scores and considering graduation exam scores with international foreign language certificates.

The combined admission method applies to the majors of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing in the advanced program. For candidates with international certificates in English or French, the school will apply a lower standard score for the three high school graduation exams than for candidates who are only considered by exam scores. "The new point is that the school plans to reserve 40% of the enrollment quota for the combined admission method. Last year, the enrollment quota by this method was less than 20%," said Mr. Tung.

According to the announcement of Hanoi National University of Education, the school applies direct admission to candidates who are students participating in excellent student teams; students of specialized high schools (or high schools under Hanoi National University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City National University of Education), students with international foreign language and information technology certificates according to regulations.

Phenikaa University directly admits candidates with a combined admission score of 26 points or higher and one of the foreign language certificates according to specific requirements, to be directly admitted to the major with the corresponding foreign language subject in the admission combination of that major. International certificates must be valid until June 30, 2024.

At the National Economics University, in 2024, the school will recruit students according to 3 methods: Direct recruitment according to regulations and recruitment plan (2%); Recruitment based on 2024 high school graduation exam scores (18%); Combined recruitment according to the school's recruitment plan (80%).

With the combined admission method, the school recruits 3 groups of candidates. Group 1 includes candidates with international SAT or ACT certificates. Group 2 includes candidates with competency assessment test scores from Hanoi National University or Ho Chi Minh City National University or with thinking assessment test scores from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, or candidates with international English certificates combined with one of the above competency assessment test scores. Group 3 uses a combination of international English certificate conversion scores with high school graduation exam scores in 2024.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Thi Hien - Head of Training Department of Foreign Trade University said: The school started using international language certificates since 2018 and international competency assessment certificates such as: SAT, ACT since 2020, adding A-level certificates since 2021 for university admission. Currently, the school has about 20 programs taught in foreign languages. Therefore, the use of foreign language certificates for admission is necessary. However, foreign language certificates or international competency assessments are only necessary conditions for combined admission to Foreign Trade University. In addition to these certificates, candidates need other conditions such as: High school study results or high school graduation, scores achieved when participating in certificate exams, etc.

The certificate will be beneficial to the candidates.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Cuc Phuong - Vice Principal of Hanoi University, informed: Currently, universities have autonomy in enrollment. Therefore, whether or not to eliminate the admission method based on international language certificates is the school's business. The Ministry of Education and Training does not have this regulation.

Ms. Phuong added: According to the general trend, I think no university will abandon foreign language certificates, especially English. The first reason is that our country is trying to integrate internationally and to integrate, we must have foreign languages. Currently, many different foreign languages such as: English, French, Russian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean... are being taught in Vietnam. Therefore, many schools will not abandon foreign languages, especially English. The second point is that when students enter school, when they graduate, they are required to have a foreign language output standard, usually English level 4/6. If they have an IELTS certificate of 5.5 or higher, they will have very favorable conditions and can meet the output standard right away.

Next is job opportunities. Hanoi University specializes in training all majors in English. We have collected statistics, students who major in foreign languages, when graduating, often have a salary 1 - 2 million VND higher than those who do not master foreign languages. This is also understandable, when having good foreign languages, students will be able to work in foreign companies, or companies with foreign elements... Therefore, I think no university will abandon the method of admission based on foreign language certificates.

Many education experts affirm that the admission method through foreign language certificates gives candidates more opportunities to be admitted and is suitable for the output standards of universities. For some majors with high requirements for English proficiency such as: International joint programs; Programs taught entirely in English..., admission by this certificate is completely suitable.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy - Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said that instead of being the only criterion for admission, foreign language certificates are often one of the criteria to be combined with other important results of candidates such as: High school study, high school graduation exam scores...

The advantage of this certificate is usually for training programs taught in English, high-quality advanced programs, talented student programs, talented engineers, and partnerships with foreign partners. In these programs, training in a foreign language is essential, so a foreign language certificate is a necessary tool for students to be able to study.

Normally, each school will have different regulations on certificate conversion points. Along with that, although all certificates must be valid when used, candidates still have to fully and clearly understand the time frames according to regulations to proactively submit application documents to ensure validity and compliance with requirements.

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