More than 1.14 million candidates under the new curriculum will sit for 2 of 9 elective subjects on the morning of June 27, many of them anxious about the exam papers because they did not perform well in Mathematics yesterday.
This is the first time the graduation examination has 9 subjects in a single session. Each subject has 48 exam codes – a record to date. All are in multiple-choice format with three types of questions: multiple-selection, true/false, and short-answer.
Because candidates are seated in fixed exam rooms, an elective subject can be tested in both time slots. To ensure security, the number of exam codes for elective subjects has doubled compared to previous years, split evenly between the two exam sessions.
Bao Han, a student at District 1 Continuing Education Center in Ho Chi Minh City, is taking English and Physics with the goal of scoring as high as possible.
The female student said that she did not have a smooth experience yesterday because she was at a loss for ideas on the social-commentary essay question in the Literature paper, managing to write only four pages despite having extra time. Meanwhile, the Mathematics paper was difficult and lengthy, causing her to skip many questions in the short-answer section.
“I did not achieve above 7 in Mathematics as I aimed, so today I will try my best to get the highest possible scores in the final two subjects,” Han said.
Candidates Shocked by the Mathematics Paper in the High School Graduation Examination
In Hanoi, Nguyen Hoang Linh Chi, taking the exam at the Luong The Vinh Secondary and High School campus, feels worried and nervous because she did not score the 8 points in Mathematics she had hoped for.
Chi plans to apply for admission using the D01 combination (Mathematics, Literature, English) and A01 (Mathematics, Physics, English) for the English Pedagogy program at Hanoi National University of Education. Therefore, today, she is also sitting for two elective subjects: Physics and English.
“I already have an IELTS score of 7.0, so I’m not too worried about English. But for Physics, I have to strive for 9.5 in order to reach a total of 27 points,” Chi said. “The high target makes me feel quite pressured.”
Sharing the same sentiment, Thanh Phuong, from Phu Tho, is worried that the papers will be as difficult as the Mathematics one yesterday afternoon. Phuong said that on the first exam day, she did fairly well in the Literature paper, but her morale dropped after taking Mathematics.
“As for the short-answer section with six questions, I only managed to answer two, one of which was incorrect,” Phuong recounted. Today, Phương is taking two elective subjects: History and English, with English included in her admission combination.
Initially, Phương planned to put National Economics University as her first choice. With an IELTS score of 7.0, Phương’s English score is converted into 9.5 points, and an additional 0.75 points are added when combined with the graduation test score, according to the university’s regulations. However, after yesterday’s exam session, the student said she will have to reconsider her choices.
“I haven’t researched many universities, so I don’t know how IELTS conversion or extra points work,” Phương shared. “Therefore, today I still have to do my best in this subject.”
According to the schedule, the first elective exam starts at 7:35, and the second at 8:40. Each exam lasts 50 minutes.
The Ministry of Education and Training said that History is the most chosen subject by candidates – over 484,000, followed by Geography – nearly 480,000. English and Physics are not far behind, each chosen by about 350,000 candidates.
Economic and Legal Education and Chemistry were chosen by 247,000 and 241,000 candidates, respectively, while the remaining subjects are all under 100,000. The lowest are the two new subjects, Technology and Informatics, with a total of about 10,000.
Scoring Method for Multiple-Choice Subjects in the 2025 High School Graduation Exam
More than 26,700 candidates under the old curriculum (2006) will take Natural Sciences or Social Sciences in the morning. This group will take English this afternoon.
Candidates taking the high school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City on June 26. Photo: Quỳnh Trần
This year, there are nearly 2,500 exam venues nationwide with over 50,000 exam rooms, involving about 200,000 officials, teachers, staff, and functional forces. As the exam follows both the old and new curricula, localities have focused on training invigilators due to some different regulations for the two groups.
This is also the first year that the Ministry has transmitted exam papers to localities via the encryption and security network of the Government Cipher Committee.
A Ministry representative said that the general spirit is to stick to the curriculum while still providing differentiation to assist universities in admission.
Yesterday, about 7,000 candidates were absent from the exams, and 20 were suspended for using mobile phones or unauthorized materials. The 2025 high school graduation exam results will be announced on July 16.
Source: VnExpress reporters group
