Foreign Trade University's benchmark scores are 'unprecedented'

Although the school identifies the A00 combination as the original combination with most of the enrollment codes, the annual enrollment source of Foreign Trade University relies largely on the group of candidates who tend to invest time and mind in studying English.

With the very low D01 score range this year, which Thanh Nien Newspaper analyzed right after the exam results were released (see here), what happened on the Foreign Trade University's benchmark score table this year is a predictable reality.

Điểm chuẩn Trường ĐH Ngoại thương 'lạ' chưa từng có- Ảnh 1. — Comparing the recruitment sources for D01 group in 2025 - 2024 - 2023, we can see how difficult the recruitment sources of Foreign Trade University are this year.

Business and administration majors: benchmark score difference of 4.5 points

With the method of consideration based on high school graduation exam scores, the highest level of the business major (original combination A00) increased slightly compared to last year. The major code with the highest standard score belongs to the advanced program of Foreign Economics , 28.5 (last year it was 28.1, along with 3 other major codes).

But last year, there were many major codes with benchmark scores of 28 or higher (4 codes 28.2; 4 codes 28.1; 4 codes 28), but this year there are few. In general, the benchmark score of Foreign Trade University is much lower than last year.

In particular, last year at the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City campuses, the lowest score was 27.2, but this year, 27 points is considered high. There is even a major with only 24 points for the A00 combination and 23 points for the D01 combination ( Political Economics major). This is unprecedented in the annual standard score table of the Foreign Trade University for the period 2019 - 2024.

Previously, the benchmark score range for the business and administration majors of the Foreign Trade University was often quite concentrated in the range of 26 to 28 points. A typical example of the concentrated benchmark score range is in 2021, the highest benchmark score for a major code was 28.8, the lowest benchmark score for a major code was 28.05 (all data in this article we do not count Quang Ninh campus), the difference is 0.75 points.

Last year, the difference was only 1 point. This year, the difference between the highest (28.5) and lowest (24) major codes is 4.5 points. This is an unprecedented spread of benchmark scores at Foreign Trade University.

The language industry suffered the most damage

The annual law major is usually not as high as the business major, but the A00 benchmark last year was also 27.5; in 2023 it was 26.7; in 2022 it was 27.5... This year, the benchmark for the standard law program is 25.7; the career orientation and international development program is 25 (D01 is 24).

In the business sector, the benchmark score for the D01 combination last year only decreased by 0.5 points compared to the original combination, but now it has decreased by 1 point. This decision of the school is to ensure fair admission for candidates with the D01 combination, because the D01 score range this year is too low. Therefore, the benchmark score for the D01 combination of Foreign Trade University this year is as low as in 2018 (the year famous for the most difficult exam since the Ministry of Education and Training organized the "2 in 1" exam).

Also for the above reason (low D01 score distribution), the language major (D01 combination is the original combination) of Foreign Trade University has a rather deep drop in standard scores. The following examples are all converted to a 30-point scale for easy comparison:

The Chinese language major, last year the benchmark was 28.5, this year it is only 26.4. The English language major (standard program) last year was 27, this year it is only 24.3. The French and Japanese language majors usually have the lowest benchmarks in the language majors, last year the benchmark was both 26, this year it is only 22.5.

Below is the 2025 university standard score table of Foreign Trade University: