Why do top universities abandon the admission method based on academic records?

TPO - In 2025, many major universities announced that they will abandon the admission method based on high school academic results (transcripts).

According to information from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, in 2025, the school will maintain 3 stable admission methods including: talent selection, thinking assessment test results and high school graduation exam results, not separate admission based on academic records.

Before 2022, Hanoi University of Science and Technology used high school transcript scores as a condition for admission based on high school graduation exam scores and thinking assessment. However, in the past 2 years, the school has also removed this requirement.

The National Economics University also abandoned the method of admission based on academic records. The reason given by the school is that over the years, the school has realized that most excellent students in specialized schools are eligible for admission based on international certificates or private exam scores. Therefore, abandoning the method of admission based on academic records will reduce the false rate, because a candidate can use many methods.

Hanoi Medical University also does not consider admission based on academic records because of concerns about unfairness to candidates for several years now.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu, Principal of Hanoi Medical University, said that current academic transcript results are not a reliable tool, especially for competitive majors such as Pedagogy, Medicine and Pharmacy, especially for Hanoi Medical University.

Similarly, in the South, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law also does not consider admission based on academic records because of concerns about unfairness for candidates.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology plans to abandon the 3-semester transcript selection method and keep the 12th grade transcript selection method based on a combination of 3 subjects. According to the school representative, the reason for the adjustment is to ensure compliance with the regulations in the draft Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the university admission regulations that the Ministry of Education and Training has just announced.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Education announced that it will not use academic transcript scores in admission methods from 2025. Instead, the school will use the following admission methods: direct admission according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training (10% of the quota); priority admission and admission of specialized class students (10-20% of the quota); admission based on specialized competency assessment exams, expected to be applied to more than 30 majors (40-50% of the quota for each major).

With the admission method based on the 2025 high school graduation exam, the school reserves 20-40% of the quota for majors using the admission method based on the specialized competency assessment exam or 70-80% for the remaining majors.

From 2025, Ho Chi Minh City National University also determined to reduce to 3 university admission methods, including: direct admission, admission based on the results of the capacity assessment exam organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University, admission based on high school exam results.

With this decision, schools under Ho Chi Minh City National University are moving towards eliminating the priority admission method based on student transcripts at more than 100 high schools nationwide (according to the annually updated list) to ensure fairness and help candidates avoid confusion.

Thus, it can be seen that in this year's admission season, top universities and many other schools have abandoned the form of admission based on academic records. Meanwhile, in 2024, more than 200 universities announced admission based on academic records.

Schools increase, places reduce admission quota based on high school graduation scores

In 2025, the National Economics University plans to maintain three stable admission methods, including: direct admission (2%); combined admission (83%) and admission based on high school graduation exam results (15%).

With the method of using the 2025 high school graduation exam results, the National Economics University will only use 4 combinations: A00 (math, physics, chemistry), A01 (math, physics, English), D01 (math, literature, English) and D07 (math, chemistry, English) instead of 9 combinations like in 2024.

According to the school, in 2025, the National Economics University will reduce the admission quota based on high school graduation exam scores from 18% to 15% and will not consider admission combinations B00, C03, C04, D09, D10.

The school has included this 3% quota in its own admission method according to the school's project from 80% in 2024 to 83% in 2025.

According to the representative of the National Economics University, the results of the high school graduation exam are still important with the admission plan to the National Economics University being purely 15%; combining the high school graduation exam score with the international English certificate is 30%.

The University of Commerce plans to reduce the admission quota based on high school graduation exam scores in 2025. The school will increase the number of admission quotas based on other methods such as thinking assessment and capacity assessment.

Hanoi National University of Education said that the percentage of admission quotas based on the school's capacity assessment test scores will gradually increase over the years and the percentage of using high school graduation exam scores will gradually decrease.

The admissions representative of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade said that in the 2025 admissions season, the school will still maintain the same admission methods with 5 methods.

Specifically, the school considers admission based on high school transcripts for all three years of high school and subject combinations with scores of 20 points or more (maximum 20% of the target); direct admission based on the school's enrollment plan and direct admission based on the Ministry's regulations; admission based on specialized assessment scores of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education; admission based on assessment scores of Ho Chi Minh City National University (maximum of (2) + (3) + (4) is 20% of the target) and admission based on high school graduation exam scores (maximum 60% of the target).

However, the school's admission plan this year has changed. Accordingly, the admission quota based on last year's high school transcripts was 30%, and this year it is a maximum of 20%. And the admission quota based on high school graduation exam scores was increased from 50% of the quota (last year), to 60% this year.

So, is the high school graduation exam score a reliable basis for schools to consider admission? According to many admissions experts, the graduation exam score will be a reliable basis but requires two conditions.

First is the issue of exam questions. The Ministry of Education and Training's exam questions ensure the long-standing factors of objectivity, accuracy, and especially the ability to classify. If the ability to classify is not good, it cannot be a tool for schools with high entrance requirements to use for enrollment.

Second, the examination supervision and grading work of localities must ensure fairness and seriousness. Only when these two conditions are met can the high school graduation exam scores be a reliable admission tool. If one of the two conditions is missing, it is no longer a reliable tool.

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Source: https://tienphong.vn/vi-sao-truong-dai-hoc-top-dau-bo-phuong-an-xet-tuyen-bang-hoc-ba-post1699623.tpo