The benchmark score for block C is up to 29, is the race to get into university unfair?

Block C00 benchmark score up to 29.3

At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City, the benchmark score for block C00, Journalism is the highest at 28.88 points; followed by Tourism and Travel Services Management at 28.33 points; Cultural Studies at 28.2 points; Art Studies at 28.15 points and History at 28.1 points.

At Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, the benchmark score for block C00 of Literature Pedagogy is 28.6; History Pedagogy 28.6; Geography Pedagogy 28.37; Psychology 27.1...

According to records at Saigon University, the score for block C00 of Literature Pedagogy is 28.11; History Pedagogy is 28.25; Geography Pedagogy is 27.91; History - Geography Pedagogy (training secondary school teachers) is 27.35...

The highest benchmark score of Ho Chi Minh City University of Law is 27.27 for Law, considering block C00.

Hanoi National University of Education has a benchmark score of block C00 for Literature Education and History Education, both 29.3; Geography Education 29.05.

At Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the benchmark score for Public Relations block C00 is 29.1; Korean Studies is 29.05; Journalism is 29.03.

The Diplomatic Academy has a benchmark score of 29.2 for the Chinese major, block C00; 29.05 for International Communications; 28.76 for International Relations; 28.73 for Japanese Studies; 28.55 for American Studies and International Law; 28.83 for Korean Studies...

Many other majors and schools have high C00 scores such as Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture, Hanoi University of Culture, Academy of Journalism and Communication...

Why is the benchmark for block C00 high?

Master Pham Thai Son, Director of Admissions, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that there are 3 reasons for the sky-high benchmark scores for block C00. First, this year's exam questions were easier than last year, especially in Literature and History, leading to higher scores for subjects in block C00.

This year, there are 704,024 candidates taking the C00 exam, 22,301 more than in 2023. The average score of the C00 exam is 20.95, 1.98 points higher than in 2023. The median score is 21.25, 2.25 points higher than in 2023. There are 42,154 candidates with a score of 27 or higher in the C00 exam. Of these, 18,500 are candidates with a score of 28 or higher, and 5,172 are candidates with a score of 29 or higher.

The second reason, according to Mr. Son, is that currently, there are fewer schools that consider admission based on the C00 block than before. “When supply is too large and demand is low, high admission scores are natural. Currently, most universities have recruited groups with English subjects to serve the training as well as future career opportunities of students,” Mr. Son commented.

The third reason is that this year, a large number of candidates chose the social science combination (Literature, History and Geography) to take the high school graduation exam. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, 63% of candidates chose the social science exam out of more than 1 million candidates registered to take the high school graduation exam in 2024.

Dr. Huynh Trung Phong, Director of the Center for Student Support and Startup Development, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, gave many reasons for the increase and high standard score of block C00. First, the average score of the 2024 high school graduation exam is higher than in 2023 and recent years. In particular, the average score for admission to social science majors, mainly block C00, has increased significantly.

Second, due to high exam scores, the number of candidates applying for admission with block C00 this year is also very large. “For example, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, the number of candidates registering for admission is 31,252, an increase of 100% compared to 2023 (with 15,596 candidates). Meanwhile, the number of candidates applying for admission to the school is 51,625, compared to 2023, it was 23,345, an increase of 120%. When there are many candidates, many candidates apply, the school has many choices, the admission score will certainly be high. Meanwhile, the quota of the schools almost increases very little, even not at all,” Mr. Phong said.

In addition, the benchmark score for block C00 increased due to a number of candidates who were admitted early by other admission methods. At Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, the number of candidates admitted early according to the school's regulations and given priority according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training is quite large, while the enrollment quota is a fixed number. When this method has reached its maximum, other methods will be less. The remaining quota for graduation exam scores is even less, leading to a high benchmark score.

Agreeing with this view, Associate Professor Do Van Dung, former principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, said that it is obvious that the exam questions are easy (for graduation), high exam scores lead to high benchmark scores. Currently, each locality's exam is graded by the locality itself, so there is more or less support, and in fact, in some localities, there are many candidates who scored 9 points in Literature. In addition, with admission based on academic records, ability assessment, international English scores, etc., without a virtual filtering system, most universities admit that the number of early admissions is 3-5 times higher than the target. As a result, the target for considering high school exam scores is very small, pushing the benchmark score up.

High exam scores still fail university, is it unfair?

Dr. Huynh Trung Phong said that it is not entirely correct to say that there is injustice here, because schools cannot arbitrarily set quotas for early admission methods. Schools must comply with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training on the number of quotas announced in the admission plan from the previous year.

“The number of early admissions has reached the maximum limit according to regulations. For example, the regulation on early admission is 40%, but in the past, this number was often not enough, but now many candidates have applied and met the requirements, so the school has taken the required number. This affects the percentage of graduation-based admissions, not that the schools can do whatever they want, so this is not unfair to candidates,” said Mr. Phong.

According to Mr. Phong, high benchmark scores are a positive signal when showing that a certain field of study is receiving attention and the quality of human resources is high, with good opportunities when studying and graduating. However, it is also necessary to consider appropriate methods for enrollment, when in 2025 the first batch of students studying the 2018 Program will take the university entrance exam. Changes are needed for appropriate enrollment, schools to recruit the right people and all candidates have a fair chance when choosing a school and field of study. In addition, the design of the training program must be appropriate, promoting input capacity to have good output capacity, and have high-quality human resources.

Associate Professor Do Van Dung, former principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, said that for many years he has been very concerned about the unfairness of university admissions for candidates. First, this creates a huge gap in the input, making it difficult to teach at the university. “After several years of teaching, I have seen that the input quality is quite different because students who are admitted based on their high school transcripts, even though they have very high scores, have weak abilities. A teacher at a high school confessed that when he recorded points on his transcripts, he had to add 3-5 points because he felt sorry for the students,” said Mr. Dung.

Second, this creates unfairness in admissions, making it impossible for many students in disadvantaged areas to enter university. They often do not have the conditions to take the competency assessment test or obtain an international English certificate, and only register for admission based on the high school exam, while the remaining quota is small, pushing the benchmark score high. This is a barrier for students who want to access higher education and change their lives.

University benchmark scores increase shockingly, 9.7 points/subject can still fail: Predicted story

Many majors at many universities have seen a sharp increase in admission scores this year. Candidates who score above 9.7 points in each subject can still fail if they register their application unreasonably.