Nguyen Thi Xuan Dung, Director of Communications at HCM City University of Technology, stated that the 2025 high school graduation exam was organized in the context of the new general education program being comprehensively implemented, leading to significant changes in the exam question structure.

The graduation exam generally aligned with the Ministry of Education and Training’s guidelines, and the exam questions were within the curriculum but they proved to be slightly more difficult than in 2024, emphasizing the application of knowledge, comprehensive skills, and practical thinking.

The Literature test was open-ended, discouraging rote learning. Notably, the required social issues essay with the topic “Every homeland sky is the sky of the motherland,” allowed students to express emotional depth and current perspectives.

The Math test saw clear changes in accordance with the new curriculum. Because of increased difficulty and higher demands for applied thinking, educators predicted a score range around 6-7, with very few candidates achieving 9-10.

Similarly, Foreign Languages, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Informatics, History, Geography, Economics and Law Education, and Technology questions also showed a new trend toward assessing competencies, while minimizing luck-based outcomes.

The introduction of new subjects like Informatics and Technology gave more options to students, though these tests were notably lengthy and complex.

Dung believes that with this year’s overall test difficulty, the score range is expected to hover around 6-7. Traditional exam groups like A00 (maths, physics, chemistry), B00 (maths, biology, chemistry), and D01 (maths, literature, English) tended to show clearer differentiation of students, with common scores ranging from 18-22, and few candidates scoring 25 or above. 

This score range is enough to finish the general education program. Meanwhile, the cutoff scores for university entrance are believed to be slightly decrease in comparison with the previous year.

Cu Xuan Tien, Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Division at the University of Economics and Law (Vietnam National University HCMC), noted that with this year’s test structure and candidates’ performance, admission benchmarks based on high school finals are expected to decrease compared to the previous year.

The exam groups involving Literature, Math, and English will see larger declines than those including History, Geography, or Economics and Law Education. In particular, the D01 exam group is expected to have a significant benchmark drop because of difficult English questions. This could disadvantage candidates if universities use multiple exam groups to select students for certain training majors without adjusting scores between them.

Pham Thai Son, Admissions Director at HCM City University of Industry, predicted that benchmarks for exam groups involving Math and English will decrease by 0.5-1.5 points for A01 (maths, physics, English) and D01 due to lower English scores. Other exam groups may see little to no decline. 

Meanwhile, as Physics, Chemistry, and Biology exam questions were similar to last year, A00 and B00 benchmarks are expected to remain stable. The exam groups involving Informatics, Economics and Law Education, or Technology will have floor scores of 16-17, as these tests were easier, and candidates performed well.

“Overall, the English test is challenging, with average scores around 5, about 1 point lower than last year. Other graduation exam subjects are of average or easy difficulty,” Son said.

How will university benchmarks change?

At HCM City University of Technology, Dung predicted that 2025 admission benchmarks based on the high school finals would range from 16-21, depending on training majors. 

Hot training majors like Information Technology, Multimedia Communication, Graphic Design, Public Relations, Marketing, Digital Marketing, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Automotive Engineering Technology, and English Language will remain highly competitive, with benchmarks likely between 18-20.

At the University of Economics and Law, Cu Xuan Tien noted that the university will use six exam groups for admission, two more than in 2024. As Math and English are key subjects, benchmarks are expected to slightly decrease compared to 2024.

This year, the university allows candidates with international English certificates to either convert them into English scores or add bonus points to their total scores. Given the difficulty of this year’s English test, Tien predicted that many candidates will use international English certificates for admission.

Thanh Hung