The exam will be more clearly differentiated.

More differentiated exam questions, only registering for elective subjects that were registered in grade 12, detailed regulations on exemption from foreign language exams... are things candidates need to pay attention to in the high school graduation exam from 2025.

After the Ministry of Education and Training issued the Regulations on High School Graduation Exams, Professor Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management, discussed with Thanh Nien reporters about new points and things to keep in mind when preparing for the 2025 exam.

TWO SETS OF EXAM QUESTIONS

Sir, one of the issues that candidates are most concerned about is how the way the high school graduation exam questions will be created from next year will change. What should candidates pay attention to with this way of creating questions during the review process?

Professor, Dr. Huynh Van Chuong: The 2025 high school graduation exam is the first year to be organized according to the 2018 General Education Program, with the difference being that it focuses on assessing learners' abilities instead of knowledge and skills like previous exams.

Therefore, the exam not only tests knowledge but also focuses more on assessing the ability to apply knowledge into practice. Accordingly, there will be many questions built from real-life situations in life, science, and society, helping candidates clearly see the connection between the knowledge learned and the surrounding world.

Prof. Dr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training

The results of the high school graduation exam are used for many different purposes, including recognition of high school graduation, re-evaluation of the teaching and learning process, and for universities and vocational training institutions to use for admission in a spirit of autonomy. Therefore, the exam will be designed to clearly differentiate between groups of candidates.

Specifically, the change in the structure format is to better suit the assessment of learners' abilities. The new structure format also contributes to increasing the differentiation of the test, especially the new true/false and short answer formats.

The 2025 exam distributes the ratio of questions at the thinking levels: knowledge, understanding, and application at 4/3/3. It can be seen that with a knowledge and understanding ratio of about 70%, it will be inclined towards the graduation goal, while a comprehension and application ratio of about 30% will have a good differentiation effect for the purpose of admission.

A notable new point is that the literature subject may use materials other than textbooks when constructing the exam. This helps assess students' ability to read, understand and perceive texts in real-life situations, avoiding rote learning or mechanical memorization. Materials may include passages, poems, or situations related to current events and social life.

With the exam questions changing according to the new program, how will the Ministry of Education and Training handle the issue for students studying under the old program who want to take the high school graduation exam next year to ensure their rights?

The Regulations on High School Graduation Exams from 2025 have a specific provision stating the transition on this issue. Specifically, in 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training will organize the development of 2 sets of exam questions (1 set according to the 2006 General Education Program and 1 set according to the 2018 General Education Program).

Candidates who studied under the 2006 General Education Program and before, but have not yet graduated, will be able to take the exam with questions built according to the 2006 Program (similar to the exam questions in 2024 and previous years).

Candidates who studied under the 2006 Program and have graduated from high school but wish to take the exam in 2025 to get the results for university and college admission can choose to take the exam according to the 2006 Program or the 2018 Program. The organization for candidates taking the exam according to the 2006 Program will be kept stable as in 2024.

C ONLY REGISTER FOR ELECTIVE SUBJECTS TAKEN IN GRADE 12

Do you have any comments for TS about the new points in the exam that are directly related to the responsibilities and rights of the students?

The regulations on responsibilities and basic rights of candidates are basically kept stable as before, especially in 2023 and 2024. With the new regulations, candidates also need to pay attention to some contents. Specifically, when taking the optional exam, candidates must be present at the exam site from the beginning of the session and can only leave the exam site when the optional exam time is over (both optional exams have ended). Previously, candidates who only took the second exam in the optional exam could arrive 15 minutes before the second exam time. However, from 2025, candidates must arrive from the beginning of the session.

Candidates after finishing the literature subject of the 2024 high school graduation exam

Students studying the 2018 General Education Program can only register for subjects from the subjects they studied in grade 12. Students with foreign language certificates that meet the requirements can still use them to exempt from the exam, but they cannot be converted into 10 points in the graduation recognition consideration as before. Students who are eligible for exemption from the foreign language exam but still want to take this exam must use the exam results to calculate their high school graduation score.

In addition, TS will not be awarded vocational points as before. TS who are foreigners studying high school in Vietnam are allowed to use Vietnamese language certificates to be exempted from the literature exam in the graduation recognition consideration...

Candidates are allowed to choose 2 subjects to take the optional exam. So how will the organization and arrangement of the exam rooms be carried out to avoid confusion and trouble for candidates, sir?

Because the number of subjects in the exam has increased compared to before and candidates are allowed to choose 2 subjects to take the optional exam, the arrangement of the exam room will be more complicated, and the exam invigilation will have many new points.

During the process of developing the exam regulations, the Ministry of Education and Training organized many experimental sessions to optimize the process such as opening, distributing, collecting papers as well as testing the exam room arrangement system.

These complex difficulties will only be at the management level and in the education sector, while for TS, all methods will be implemented to ensure convenience and ease compared to previous years. For example, from 2024 onwards, TS may have to change examination rooms after each exam session, which makes it difficult and tiring for TS to monitor. However, from 2025, TS will only take the exam in a fixed examination room throughout the exam sessions.

The Ministry of Education and Training will organize the development of 2 sets of exam questions (1 set according to the 2006 General Education Program and 1 set according to the 2018 General Education Program) for the 2025 high school graduation exam.

One of the new points in the exam that the Ministry of Education and Training emphasized is the transportation of exam papers. Can you share more about this new way of doing things?

In 2025, for the first time, the high school graduation exam will have an additional method of transporting exam questions from the exam council's location to the exam printing locations of 63 provinces and cities via the encrypted and secure transmission system of the Government Cipher Committee.

This is an important step in applying technology to key stages of the exam organization process. This new method of delivering exam papers helps to deliver original papers quickly and promptly, reducing the time and personnel required to deliver papers as in the traditional method currently applied. This is also an early, remote and important preparation step in implementing the exam plan according to the announced roadmap for converting from paper-based to computer-based exams.

All candidates can register for the exam online.

From 2025, all candidates can register for the exam online (including independent candidates who registered directly in previous years). In the coming time, the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with relevant units to continue integrating and connecting the database system to reduce the number of candidate applications that must be submitted, especially supporting documents to enjoy preferential policies.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2025-de-thi-se-phan-hoa-ro-ret-hon-185241226081133293.htm