10th grade admission in Hanoi: Concerns about the difference in scores between two wishes

Students find it difficult to register their wishes.

After the Hanoi Department of Education and Training announced the public high school 10th grade enrollment plan, a forum group with more than 160,000 participating parents commented on the difference in scores between registration wishes.

According to the regulations of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, for public high schools, the enrollment area is divided according to the administrative boundaries of districts, towns, and cities; the whole city has 12 enrollment areas. Each student can register to apply to a maximum of 3 public high schools, ranked in order of preferences 1, 2, 3. Of which, preferences 1 and 2 must be in the enrollment area according to regulations, preference 3 can be in any enrollment area.

Candidates taking the 10th grade high school entrance exam in Hanoi in 2024. Photo: NHU Y

Students are not allowed to change their admission wishes after registering. Students who are not admitted to their first choice can apply to their second choice but must have an admission score at least 1.0 point higher than the school's admission standard for their first choice.

Students who do not pass their first or second choice will be considered for their third choice, but must have an admission score at least 2.0 points higher than the school's admission score for their first choice.

This regulation comes from the fact that the Hanoi education sector wants to raise the entrance standards for some schools and create opportunities for candidates who achieve high scores but fail their first choice.

However, this year, due to changes in the Junior High School and High School Admission Regulations recently issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, many parents believe that keeping a 1-point difference between consecutive wishes is unreasonable.

Mr. Duong Cong Thanh (Hai Ba Trung district) shared that in previous years, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training multiplied the coefficient by 2 for Literature and Math, and the coefficient by 1 for the remaining subjects. This year, the 3 subjects (Math, Literature, Foreign Language) do not have a coefficient (due to the Ministry's Admission Regulations), so a 1-point difference between the wishes will cause difficulties for parents and students to register their wishes.

According to Mr. Cong, in 2024, Hanoi's admission score for non-specialized public high schools was 50/50, this year it is only 30/30. The difference in scores between wishes that does not change will be a disadvantage for candidates.

Mr. Cong suggested that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training should determine the difference between wishes to be 0.5 - 0.6 points, which is appropriate. Mr. Cong compared that Ho Chi Minh City only determined the difference between wishes to be 0.25 - 0.5 points.

According to the reporter's records, the benchmark scores between high schools in the same enrollment area of ​​Hanoi in recent years have almost no significant difference. If a candidate fails the first choice, the risk of failing the second choice is very high. For example, in 2024, the benchmark scores in the Hoan Kiem - Hai Ba Trung area are as follows: Tran Phu High School 39.5 points; Viet Duc High School 41.25 points; Thang Long High School 42.25 points, Tran Nhan Tong High School 39.75 points. Looking at the benchmark scores of the schools, it shows that if a candidate fails the first choice, it is not easy to be admitted to the remaining school.

There should be a selection system.

Teacher Nguyen Thanh Cong, Hanoi National University of Education High School for the Gifted, said that this year's admission method requires parents and students to carefully consider when registering their wishes and the order of their wishes. In the same admission area, families must consider the candidates' abilities, the minimum admission scores of previous years, location, distance from home to school, family finances, etc. to register for the appropriate first and second choice schools.

Mr. Cong noted that the second choice must be a school with a lower admission score than the first choice. This admission method has the advantage of helping to stream education reasonably, avoiding the situation where students register concentratedly at a few top schools, leading to other schools having no students.

This admission principle also reduces pressure on the infrastructure of each admission area. However, there are some disadvantages for candidates. If they do not arrange their wishes appropriately, a good student can fail all of them because they set their wishes too high and have similar benchmark scores.

This phenomenon happens every year. Therefore, Mr. Cong noted that when placing the second and third wishes, the candidate must pay attention to ensure that the score of the candidate is higher than the score of the first wish of that school.

According to Mr. Cong, candidates should put their first choice in a school that suits their ability (predicted based on previous years' benchmark scores), ensuring the following factors: academic performance, test scores, school location compared to home... Candidates should not put their second and third choices too high because these are "anti-failure" choices.

If candidates apply for admission to specialized high schools of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training (Hanoi Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, Chu Van An High School for the Gifted, Nguyen Hue High School for the Gifted, Son Tay High School for the Gifted), they still have to arrange their wishes for public high schools as usual, the choice of specialized schools is different from the choice of public schools. The entrance exam for specialized schools under universities is not related to and does not affect the entrance exam for grade 10 of public and specialized schools under the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

One thing Mr. Cong reminds candidates is to choose a public high school that has study groups and classes that are suitable for the candidates' needs, desires and career orientation to avoid being admitted to a school with inappropriate study groups that will affect their future career orientation.

To ensure fairness and convenience in 10th grade admission, Mr. Cong suggested that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training should apply a university-style admission system, with each high school developing an admission plan with the number of candidates and classes for each subject group at high school level and uploading it to the system.

Candidates register for their first, second, and third wishes according to regulations and the virtual filtering system operates to admit successful candidates to the school according to their scores and quotas, according to the registered subject combinations that match their career orientation needs, which will optimize and balance the factors in enrollment.

According to Mr. Cong, candidates should put their first choice in a school that suits their ability (predicted based on previous years' benchmark scores), ensuring the following factors: academic performance, test scores, school location compared to home... Candidates should not put their second and third choices too high because these are "anti-failure" choices.

NGHIEM HUE

Source: https://tienphong.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-o-ha-noi-ban-khoan-diem-chenh-giua-hai-nguyen-vong-post1730801.tpo