Students' thoughts before the 2025 High School Graduation Exam

The 2025 High School Graduation Exam under the new program will take place over 2 days, June 26-27, with 3 exam sessions, 1 exam session and 2 exam subjects reduced compared to before. The Ministry of Education and Training also increased the rate of using academic transcript scores from 30% last year to 50%. Candidates with foreign language certificates will be exempted from the exam but will not be converted into 10 points for graduation consideration.

In addition, the regulations also stipulate that the elimination of bonus points for vocational certificates and early admission will all have an impact on candidates.

Le Nguyen Tien Dat, a 12th grade A4 student at Kim Lien High School (Hanoi), said that up to now, he is trying his best to equip himself with knowledge as well as update new information from the Ministry of Education and Training and universities.

"Although I feel quite confused, the most important thing is to practice my skills in doing different types of exercises and practice questions to take the separate exams, then the High School Graduation exam," Dat said.

This year's students have many thoughts before the High School Graduation Exam.

According to the male student, he participated in the separate exams of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the capacity assessment exam of the National University, but he is not sure if the separate exams are as safe as in previous years. If last year, the thinking and capacity assessment exams were still dominant and overwhelming, and candidates could feel secure before the graduation exam, then by the middle of this year there were many changes, affecting the psychology of students.

I hope that universities will have a fair, transparent and beneficial conversion formula for candidates, avoiding the situation where I have high scores in separate exams but still fail. If schools only convert scores on a 30-point scale and do not multiply the coefficient, it will be quite disadvantageous.

According to Tien Dat, besides concerns and worries, he sees that this year's exam also has many advantages. Taking 4 exams has somewhat reduced the pressure on candidates. The Ministry of Education and Training's graduation exam illustration has removed a lot of unnecessary knowledge, instead focusing more on practical math applications. The exam also minimizes luck when randomly circling can still be correct and "get" points to ensure more fairness for candidates. The multiple choice part has 4 ideas in 1 question, if 1 idea is wrong, it will lose 0.5 points, requiring students to study seriously and do the test carefully to get the maximum score.

"Senior students have to take separate exams and high school graduation exams at the same time, so they need to speed up. In addition to studying at school, I also have to spend time in exam preparation classes to consolidate my knowledge and test-taking skills in order to achieve my goals," Dat said.

I was "shocked" when studying the new Literature program.

Pham Nguyen Quynh Anh, a 12th grade student at a high school in Hanoi, also shared her two worries when facing an important turning point in her life: getting admitted to university as expected and choosing a career that ensures good output.

Regarding studying to prepare for the exam, according to Quynh Anh, she used to study Literature very well, achieving high scores in high school entrance exams, but when she started studying the new program and new methods, she was "shocked" and achieved low scores. After about two years of uncertainty, she gradually adapted to studying according to the new program, and had the skills to search for and use information and materials in her writing.

In addition, the female student is also quite worried about Math, especially this year the exam has been renewed, adding two types of multiple choice questions. In particular, the true-false multiple choice question format often causes her to lose a lot of points in tests and practice exams and is still a big challenge. The multiple choice question format is application-oriented and difficult, so she often cannot complete it.

Along with the changes in this year's exam, I am worried about whether I will be admitted to my dream school, even though since grade 11 I have prepared myself by taking the IELTS certificate exam to go to grade 12 and focus on my own exam and graduation exam.

Regarding career choice, Quynh Anh said that although she has not yet determined specifically, she will choose the Marketing group because this is a broad field and has a common set of skills. Standing at the threshold of choosing a career, in addition to herself, she must seek advice from her family to make the most reasonable decision.

"The labor market will always fluctuate and today's choice may not be right for the next 4-5 years. However, you must determine that you must constantly improve your knowledge and have the skills to adapt, otherwise you will not be able to keep up," Quynh Anh said.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said that at this time, students are focusing on studying to have the best basic knowledge, universities will have to ensure the principles of fair admission. He also affirmed that the conversion of scores is up to the educational institutions but must ensure the most important principle, which is fairness for candidates with the goal that the best students will be admitted. The system will select students with the best results, so students need to care about "what they have in hand", the rest of the software system will handle and select candidates.

Ha Linh

Source: https://tienphong.vn/hoc-sinh-tam-tu-truoc-ky-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2025-post1730330.tpo