Decoding the 'phenomenon' of Bac Ninh in the 2024 high school graduation exam

Parents take candidates to take the 2024 high school graduation exam in Bac Ninh province - Photo: HA QUAN

Besides, this locality also attracts attention when having a series of valedictorians and salutatorians.

19 top students of block C00 nationwide, 13 in Bac Ninh

In 2020, Bac Ninh ranked 26th in the national high school graduation exam results. In 2021, the province jumped seven places to 19th. In 2021, Bac Ninh ranked first in the country in physics and eighth in math.

In 2022, Bac Ninh ranked 6th, up 13 places from the previous year. Physics continued to hold the number 1 position nationwide. Math, literature, history, foreign languages, and chemistry were all in the top 10.

In 2023, Bac Ninh moved up to 5th place nationwide (after Vinh Phuc, Binh Duong, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh). In 2024, ranking 5th in the country in graduation exam results is part of the process of gradually improving the results of this province.

The province's exam scores "broke through" in 2020-2021 and have remained stable for about three years now. However, what makes Bac Ninh a "phenomenon" is related to this year's graduation exam results. For example, the average math score of Bac Ninh students has jumped from 7th in 2023 to 3rd nationwide. Physics holds the 2nd position.

Most notably, among the 19 top students in block C00 nationwide, Bac Ninh has 13 top students with a total score of 29.75. In addition, Bac Ninh has 37 runners-up, of which the top student in block C00 has a total score of 29.50, and block D01 has a total score of 28.70.

The number of candidates who scored 27 points or more in the admission groups was 1,864 students out of a total of over 17,600 candidates. The number of candidates who scored 26.50 was 2,558. Bac Ninh also had 89 students in the top 100 nationwide, the most among the provinces and cities with candidates in this top group.

Valedictorians, salutatorians, and students with high scores are not only concentrated in specialized high schools or high schools in the city but are scattered in many districts such as Tu Son, Gia Binh, Luong Tai...

The number of 9.5 literature exams accounts for 10.8%

In the general situation of "raining 9s" in literature scores happening in many localities, Bac Ninh is also more special.

The number of literature exams with a score of 9.5 in Bac Ninh is very high. Out of nearly 17,500 candidates taking the literature exam, 1,890 exams scored 9.5 or higher (606 exams scored 9.75 and 1,284 exams scored 9.5), accounting for 10.8% of the total number of literature exams in this province.

Compared to students nationwide who achieved a score of 9.75 (1,843 candidates), Bac Ninh accounted for nearly 1/3. If we count the number of candidates who achieved 9 points or more in Bac Ninh, the passing rate is 25.9% (4,532 candidates).

Looking at the data, we can see that if the exam results truly reflect the quality of teaching and students' abilities, then Bac Ninh students are very good at literature, far surpassing even localities with a tradition of "literary land" such as Nam Dinh.

According to many literature teachers in Hanoi, normally students who are really good at literature and study hard can achieve a score of 8.0 or higher in exams. If we follow this comment, the number of students with "good ability in literature" in Bac Ninh is quite large, because according to the publicly announced exam score distribution of Bac Ninh, there are 10,785/nearly 17,500 candidates achieving a score of 8.0 or higher. The literature score that most candidates in Bac Ninh achieved was 8.5 points (1,738 candidates).

Meanwhile, in the national exam score data, the literature score that most candidates achieved this year was 8.0 points.

"Nothing unusual"

Sharing with Tuoi Tre about Bac Ninh's outstanding results in this year's high school graduation exam, Mr. Ha Huy Phuong - principal of Bac Ninh High School for the Gifted - affirmed that it is not unusual for specialized schools to have many valedictorians.

Mr. Phuong also cited that in previous years, the school also had valedictorians and students with high awards in national competitions for excellent students. The number of students who are valedictorians and have good exam results in this year's exam is also the result of the school's and parents' efforts in studying and creating the best conditions for them.

Ms. Tran Thi Bich Ngoc - literature teacher, homeroom teacher of class 12 history, Bac Ninh Specialized High School - also shared that in the mock exams organized by the Bac Ninh Department of Education and Training, many students of the school also achieved scores above 29 points in the C00 group. In history alone, Ms. Ngoc said that many students who won prizes in competitions to select excellent students had no difficulty achieving 10 points.

According to the Department of Education and Training of Bac Ninh, the province ranked 5th out of 63 provinces and cities with an average high school graduation exam score of 7.21 points, similar to 2023, up 1 place compared to 2022. In addition to attention and effective investment, Bac Ninh education has many solutions such as building a question bank, review bank, assigning good specialized teachers to teach grade 12, adjusting teaching plans to match students' abilities...

"For the subject of literature, the department organized two conferences to guide teaching and analyze the structure and matrix of exam questions from recent years to determine the knowledge and skills that students need to be equipped with, especially knowledge that is prone to errors and points deductions..." - information from this department said.

Are there any abnormalities in the literature, history and geography exam scores?

Looking at the score distribution of this year's high school graduation exams, it can be seen that there is no major change compared to 2023. However, a deeper analysis of the exam subjects shows that literature, history, and geography have many notable points.

At the 27-point mark for the C00 combination (average 9 points/subject), this year, 23,343 candidates passed (in 2023, it was 3,681). At the 28-point mark (average 9.3 points/subject), this year, 7,620 candidates passed, while in 2023, it was 740. At the 29.25-point mark (average 9.75 points/subject), there were 380 candidates, while in 2023, there were only 7 candidates...

Among the subjects, only literature is an essay test and is graded by examiners (other subjects are graded by machines). It will be difficult for examiners to ensure absolute uniformity in grading, as it depends on many factors.

Although in recent years, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued a fairly strict two-round independent essay scoring process (two examiners score separately and then combine scores). However, the situation of "loose scoring" and "tight scoring" is still difficult to handle thoroughly.

Previously, the Ministry of Education and Training had conducted post-inspections for unusual exam results, and had publicly announced the results of comparing high school graduation exam scores with high school students’ academic performance. However, in recent years, this has not been announced.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/giai-ma-hien-tuong-bac-ninh-trong-ky-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2024-20240719083230961.htm