Many universities stop considering high school transcripts, are candidates at a disadvantage?

In the 2024 enrollment plan, the National Economics University announced three enrollment methods: 2% of the enrollment target will be directly recruited; 18% of the enrollment target will be based on high school graduation exam results, and 80% of the enrollment target will be based on the combined enrollment method according to the school's enrollment plan.

Thus, in 2024, the National Economics University will no longer have the option of enrolling students based on high school transcripts. In previous years, this group of candidates accounted for about 10% of the target.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Law also only enrolls students by two methods: early admission according to the school's enrollment plan (accounting for 45% of the total enrollment target, including direct admission), and admission based on high school graduation exam results with 55% of the total enrollment target.

Many universities stop considering high school transcripts for admission. Are candidates at a disadvantage? (Illustration photo)

Hanoi University of Science and Technology also removed the requirement of a GPA of 7 or higher for subjects in the group, when considering admission based on high school graduation exam scores and thinking assessment this year.

Hanoi Medical University and many other top universities still agree on saying no to considering high school transcripts for admission. On the contrary, middle and lower-ranked universities have tended to increase admission quotas based on high school transcripts in recent years.

Explaining the decision to remove the consideration of academic records, Associate Professor Dr. Bui Duc Trieu, Head of Training Management Department, National Economics University, said that through the admission results of the years, it shows that some candidates for specialized schools who are considered for admission based on academic records have good ability, meet other conditions on capacity assessment test scores, high school graduation exam scores, international certificates, etc. The overlap rate among this group of candidates is quite high, leading to an increase in the virtual rate.

"Removing this group of candidates is to reduce the virtual rate when filtering successful applications, with little impact on the overall admission results and the rights of candidates," said Mr. Trieu.

At the same time, in the 2024 enrollment season, the National Economics University advocates increasing the quota for using the results of prestigious competency and thinking assessment exams such as HAS, APT, TSA, etc. This is aimed at reducing dependence on academic performance and high school graduation exam results.

Meanwhile, a representative of Nha Trang University said that the school has been recruiting students based on their academic records since 2021, and the results of the students being admitted have been very high. However, after the first year, the average academic scores of students admitted based on their academic records are quite low.

Meanwhile, students admitted by other methods have quite good academic results, the difference between university entrance exam scores and academic ability is not too big. "That is the reason why the school has stopped considering admission based on academic records," said the representative.

From the reality of enrollment and teaching, the representative of Nha Trang University realized that the results of high school transcripts, especially grade 12 results, are not highly reliable and are not consistent among localities. Therefore, eliminating the consideration of transcripts is correct for top universities, "candidates compete based on their high school graduation exam scores, ability assessment scores or thinking assessment scores".

Supporting the idea of universities abandoning the use of transcripts for admission, Dr. Le Viet Khuyen - Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges said that when universities use transcripts in the admission method, it has led to many negative issues in grading, even the situation of "buying scores". This makes it difficult to verify the actual ability of students.

"Currently, the quality of educational institutions in our country is still uneven, so the grading of students at each institution is also different. Therefore, if we rely on the transcript to consider university admission, it will be unfair to students. In my opinion, the transcript score should only be a secondary criterion, supplementing the exam score of the high school graduation exam," said Mr. Khuyen. Removing the transcript score does not reduce the opportunity to enter university or disadvantage candidates. Good students will still be able to enter their dream school based on their abilities.

Previously, voters in Thanh Hoa province had petitioned the Ministry of Education and Training to consider eliminating university admissions based on academic records. Voters said that many negative practices arose to "buy points" and "beautify" academic records in high schools.
Responding to voters, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that the 2018 Law on Higher Education allows universities to recruit students through entrance exams, selection, or a combination of both. The university admission regulations issued by the Ministry only stipulate principles to ensure publicity, transparency, and equality among schools, while universities are autonomous and responsible for their admission methods. The role of the Ministry is to direct the inspection and examination of the implementation of these regulations.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, whether or not transcripts are used for university admissions, high schools must have the responsibility and measures to ensure reliability, fairness, and correct assessment of students' results.

Minh Khoi

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