Following widespread feedback from students about the high difficulty of the 2025 national high school graduation exams, particularly in math and English, the Ministry of Education and Training offered several explanations during a press conference held on the afternoon of June 27.

Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Deputy Director of the Quality Management Department under the Ministry and Head of the 2025 Exam Question Committee, acknowledged that both subjects were perceived as challenging. Some students even reported feeling “shocked” by the exams, and many teachers described the tests as having “high differentiation,” being “demanding for students,” with “few expected high scores” and “unlikely perfect marks.”

Responding to these concerns, Nguyen Ngoc Ha explained that this year’s test design introduced significant changes. “The structure and format of the exam were completely different from last year. This new design may have surprised students,” he said.

However, he emphasized that students who had thoroughly prepared throughout the academic year would have been better equipped to handle the exams than those who had not.

To support exam readiness, the Ministry released the exam structure and format along with sample questions as early as February 2024. “The aim was to help students become familiar with the new format and guide their revision efforts,” Ha said.

Regarding the overall difficulty level, he clarified that this was the first year of reform, and there was a clear directive from the National Steering Committee to avoid abrupt changes - particularly concerning exam difficulty.

Ha added that prior to drafting the exams, the Ministry conducted large-scale trial tests across the country’s three regions to assess student adaptability. “The purpose of the trial exams was to evaluate student responsiveness and adjust the difficulty level accordingly,” he said.

The exam development teams worked closely with this trial data and were required to align their work with the published sample papers. “We acknowledge the feedback on the difficulty of the exams and will carefully evaluate this once the grading process is completed,” Ha concluded.

Thuy Nga-Thanh Hung