Many specialized schools in Hanoi change the way they enroll 10th graders.

In 2025, there will be many innovations in 10th grade enrollment at specialized schools in Hanoi, including schools under the Department of Education and Training and universities.

Currently, Hanoi has 4 specialized high schools under the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, including: Hanoi - Amsterdam, Nguyen Hue, Chu Van An and Son Tay. In recent years, Chu Van An and Son Tay high schools have had both specialized and non-specialized classes, with an annual quota of about 300-500 students per system. In 2025, both of the above schools will be recognized as specialized schools, so they will no longer enroll students in the non-specialized system.

In addition, Hanoi also has 4 specialized schools under universities. Hanoi National University has 3 specialized schools including: High School for Natural Sciences under the University of Natural Sciences; High School for Social Sciences and Humanities under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities; High School for Foreign Languages ​​under the University of Foreign Languages.

Hanoi National University of Education has one specialized school, Hanoi National University of Education High School for the Gifted.

Admission to 8 specialized schools in Hanoi is different between the two groups:

Schools under the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will take the same exam on the same day, with the same questions throughout the city. Only candidates with Hanoi household registration (or parents or guardians with Hanoi household registration) can take this exam. Candidates applying to specialized schools under the Department must take the general exam for public grade 10 and take an additional specialized exam on the day after the general exam.

The specialized schools of the universities organize their own exams on different days, allowing candidates to take the exams at many specialized schools. The admission target is students nationwide. This year, the 4 specialized schools of the universities have all changed their admission methods.

Illustration: Thanh Hung

2 specialized high schools under the Department of Specialized Education increase the number of specialized students

According to the 10th grade admission guidelines for the 2025-2026 school year recently issued by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, two specialized high schools have added and are enrolling new specialized classes.

Specifically, this year, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted is enrolling students in the Japanese language major.

Chu Van An High School for the Gifted has 3 more specialized blocks: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

High School for Natural Sciences: No direct admission, entrance exam for IT major with IT subject

This year, the High School for Natural Sciences only applies one admission method, no longer directly admitting candidates who won first prize in provincial-level excellent student competitions like previous years.

When registering for a specialized class, candidates must take the corresponding specialized subject exam, except for IT majors who can choose to take the entrance exam in Math or IT. To be considered for admission, candidates must score 4 points or higher in each subject, calculated on a 10-point scale. The admission score is the total score of Math (round 1) and the specialized subject multiplied by a factor of two. Literature and English are conditional subjects and are not included in the admission score.

Candidates must take 4 subjects, including Math (round 1), Literature, English and specialized subjects, of which English is a new subject. The Math (round 1) and Literature exams last 120 minutes, English 60 minutes, and specialized subjects 150 minutes. The exam schedule for grade 10 at the Natural Science Specialized High School takes place from June 1-2.

Foreign Language High School: Change the number of exam subjects

Foreign Language High School recruits 10th graders with four exams including Literature, Math, English and specialized subject, an increase of one compared to last year.

In previous years, the Foreign Language Specialized High School recruited 10th graders with three exams, including Foreign Language, Math and Natural Science, Literature and Social Science. So, this year, the school increased the number of exams, but reduced the number of subjects (Natural Science and Social Science). The Foreign Language Specialized High School held the exam on June 1.

High School for Social Sciences and Humanities: Increase exam subjects, eliminate direct admission

In 2025, candidates taking the entrance exam to grade 10 of the High School for Social Sciences and Humanities will take 4 subjects, including 3 conditional subjects (Math, Literature, English) and a specialized subject instead of 1 subject like last year.

In 2025, the school will not recruit directly, and will not add priority points. In previous years, candidates only took the specialized subject exam, this year candidates must take 4 exams, of which 3 general subjects are: Literature (essay - 120 minutes), Math (multiple choice - 60 minutes), English (multiple choice - 90 minutes) and the specialized subject is one of the following subjects: Literature, History, Geography (essay - 150 minutes).

To be eligible for admission, candidates must score 4 points or more in three general subjects and 6 points in specialized subjects. Candidates can only register for one specialized class. The admission score is the general Literature score and the specialized subject score multiplied by two, maximum 30.

The entrance exam for grade 10 at the High School for Social Sciences and Humanities took place on May 24-25, about a week earlier than last year.

University of Education High School for the Gifted: Change in scoring method

This year, the High School for Gifted Students of the National University of Education (under the Hanoi National University of Education) has added an English test in the first round, instead of just Math and Literature like last year. Along with that, the formula for calculating admission scores has also changed a lot.

Specifically, for the specialized groups of Math, Information Technology, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geography, the admission score is the total Math (round 1) multiplied by a factor of 1 and the specialized subject score multiplied by a factor of 2. The Literature and English scores in round 1 are only conditions and are not used to calculate the admission score.

For the Literature specialized class group, the consideration score is the total Literature score (round 1) multiplied by a factor of 1 and the specialized Literature score multiplied by a factor of 2. The Math and English scores in round 1 are only conditions.

For English specialized classes, the score is the total of English round 1 and specialized English multiplied by a factor of two. Math and Literature round 1 scores are just conditions.

This year, the National University of Education High School for Gifted Students also raised the failing score for all exams. Specifically, to be considered for admission, candidates must not have any exam score below 3.5 points, instead of only 2 points or higher like last year. The school will organize the exam on June 4-5, 2025.