Recently, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a Circular amending the Regulations on university and college admissions, applicable from the 2025 admission season. One of the innovations in the Regulations is the requirement for training institutions to convert the equivalent admission scores of admission methods and combinations for a training major.
Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son had an interview with the press regarding this content.
Why did the Ministry of Education and Training request to convert scores, Deputy Minister?
- Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son, the issue of converting scores between university admission methods in 2025 is causing some debate on forums. Could you tell us why the Ministry of Education and Training made this request?
Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son: The 2025 university admission regulations have two notable innovations. Firstly, according to the new regulations, there will be no more early admission. This is a change that has received very high consensus in recent times.
The second is the conversion of scores between admission methods and combinations. Through the process of consulting with universities, especially those directly involved in admissions and scientists, the Ministry of Education and Training also received high consensus on the issue of score conversion.
The regulation issued by the Ministry of Education and Training has been adjusted compared to the previous draft. Specifically, the draft requires the conversion of the entire score scale between methods, but the official regulation only requires the conversion of the equivalent admission score, which means it is much simpler. Because in the end, we need to determine that for a major with many admission methods, the benchmark scores must ensure the equivalent level of assessment of the learners' input capacity.
In the case that a major or a program only uses one admission method, such as only using the results of the Hanoi National University's competency assessment test or high school graduation exam scores, schools do not need to convert. However, if a major uses two or more admission methods, there must be an equivalent conversion.
We need to ask why admission to the same major, for example, the admission method based on high school graduation exam scores takes 25 points, while the capacity assessment score of Hanoi National University takes 120/150 points, the thinking assessment score of Hanoi University of Science and Technology takes 70-80 points, and considering academic records takes 26 points?,... The admission standard scores from many different methods must assess the equivalent level of candidates' capacity, that is the reason why the Ministry makes this request.
Of course, this requirement also stems from a major problem in previous years, when schools determined admission scores based on the quotas for each method. Meanwhile, the division of quotas between methods was almost impossible to have a clear basis.
There are two ways to determine the admission score: one is based on the division of quotas, the other is based on analysis and equivalent conversion. Obviously, the equivalent conversion of admission scores between methods is a much more scientific and fair solution than deciding the admission score based on quotas.
It must be affirmed once again that the Regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training do not require equivalent conversion of all admission methods, but only require conversion of admission scores within a certain range for majors and training programs using multiple admission methods.
Point conversion method to ensure science and fairness
- Some opinions say that exams have different natures and require different knowledge, so it is difficult to convert to the same score scale. What does the Deputy Minister think about that point of view?
Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son: We agree with that opinion, that if the exams aim to assess completely different abilities of candidates, then clearly they cannot be used to evaluate when recruiting for a major.
We can use admission for many different majors, with different requirements, but if we are recruiting candidates for one major, we must set the same requirements or only slightly different ones.
However, the Regulations emphasize that, in essence, the admission methods must assess the core competencies of candidates when entering that major, otherwise, their use is baseless. This is also the highest principle in admission. Thus, the methods used to select candidates for a major, although different in assessment methods, must all assess core competencies. Therefore, the admission benchmark must be convertible.
Regarding the issue of how to convert to ensure scientific, there are actually many methods that mathematicians and scientists are familiar with. We use a large data set including the exam results of hundreds of thousands of candidates, from high school graduation exams, academic records, to the capacity assessment exams of National Universities, or the thinking assessment exam of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
For example, when we need to convert the results of the Hanoi National University's competency assessment exam with the high school graduation exam scores, we will take the number of students in the top 1% of each exam, then we can take the 5% or 10%, 20% mark, etc. This is the percentile method, determining the students' positions according to the percentile. When we determine the score to reach the top 1% of the competency assessment exam and the high school graduation exam according to a certain block, we will give the equivalent level of these two types of scores.
The second method is linear regression. For example, in the admission score range from 20 to 30 points according to the high school graduation exam results, we take the score range from 20 to 21 as the benchmark. Students who achieve this score have a competency assessment score within a certain range. We apply the linear approximation method to calculate and find the conversion formula, the smaller the division, the higher the accuracy.
Besides, there are many other methods that can be applied. Scientifically, these methods are quite simple and can be implemented by all schools.
If a method is found to be unreliable, schools should not use it.
- If there is a difference in the conversion of scores with the candidates' actual ability, what plan does the Ministry of Education and Training have to re-evaluate the input quality to ensure fairness , Deputy Minister?
Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son: We only have two options. The first is to keep the current admission method based on the quota of each method. However, this method has revealed many shortcomings and we must fix it. At that time, the remaining option is to convert the equivalent scores between the admission methods and combinations.
Whether this conversion is suitable for the candidates' actual ability or not, we must first return to the question of whether the assessment methods and testing methods correctly assess the candidates' actual ability. If so, then the conversion is meaningful. And because all methods correctly assess the candidates' ability, the conversion is feasible.
The Ministry of Education and Training does not require schools to completely abandon the method of considering transcripts, but it is clear that transcript scores cannot ensure reliability and assess the candidates' abilities as well as high school graduation exam scores or some other examination methods. Because we have many different high schools, in each school, different classes can also have differences. However, even in that case, there can be a conversion formula.
If a certain exam or score does not guarantee high reliability, schools can make an adjustment range. For example, the high school graduation exam scores and the report card scores, the Ministry of Education and Training has statistics between places that show some difference between the students' exam results. Assuming the average difference is 1-2 points, schools can add/subtract more to solve the reliability problem.
Schools need to understand that if they feel a method is not reliable enough, they should not use it. But if they do choose to use it, it must be reliable and must be able to be equivalent to other methods. If it is not possible to be equivalent, then only one method should be used.
The next issue is what if the schools convert differently? In fact, it is inevitable that there will be differences between schools, due to the characteristics of each school and each industry. The schools themselves also confirm that the admission requirements between industries are not the same. However, the Ministry of Education and Training will issue a general conversion framework, regardless of the industry (possibly by exam group) to provide guidance and a common formula for common admission methods. At that time, schools will rely on this framework to make adjustments.
We believe that when the Ministry has issued guidelines and schools make adjustments, the differences between schools will not be too large and must have a clear scientific basis. If each school is allowed to convert without a common framework, differences may occur. However, we believe that most schools will not make major changes without a valid basis.
- What factors will the Ministry of Education and Training use to calculate this conversion score framework to ensure reliability, Deputy Minister?
Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son: Talking about the reliability of data, we must first talk about the reliability of exams. Currently, we have no other data sources other than data from exams, because all high school students have to pass these exams.
As mentioned, schools that want to use a certain admission method must ask themselves: is this exam or this academic result reliable? If the school finds this result unreliable, it has the right not to use it. However, if it has decided to use a certain method or result, the school itself must confirm that it has a certain level of reliability.
The second issue is the mathematical and statistical factor. In statistical probability, there can be no absolute reliability. The reliability of data depends not only on the score, but also on the exam organization process, the way the questions are set, the exam format... The larger the data set, the more appropriate and accurate the calculation formulas become.
Of course, the Ministry of Education and Training will use data from previous years to make judgments and assessments. As recently, we have seen that schools have also conducted analysis and although the methods are different, the results are quite similar.
More importantly, the Ministry of Education and Training will update more data from this year's exam to supplement the general data system. As for schools, the task is to base on students' learning results, especially when the Ministry has issued a general conversion framework, then the adjustment and application will be based on that.
- Thank you very much, Deputy Minister, for sharing!
Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/thu-truong-bo-gd-dt-phan-tich-ve-quy-doi-diem-trung-tuyen-dai-hoc-nam-2025-post409815.html
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