More than 1.1 million candidates enter the 2025 high school graduation exam with literature subject

(Dan Tri) - This morning (June 26), more than 1.1 million candidates took the literature test for the 2025 high school graduation exam. Some students woke up at 5am to go to school to take the exam.

The 2025 high school graduation exam will officially take place on June 26-27. This is a special exam of historical significance as it is both the first year of taking the exam according to the 2018 generaleducation program and ensures the exam for students taking the exam according to the 2006 general education program.

Get up at 5am to take the exam

Vuong Nhat Thanh, a student of class 12A5 (9+), College of Urban Engineering ( Hanoi ) in Long Bien district, while his exam location is at Luong The Vinh High School, near the end of Cau Giay district, more than 20km from home.

“I woke up at 5am, had breakfast and went to the exam site. People often joke that from my house to the exam site, it was almost like going around the city,” Thanh humorously said.

The male student said he took the exam to get his high school diploma, then continue his studies at college. To prepare for this exam, Thanh only took extra lessons from his teachers at school. He said he would try his best to take the exam.

Candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam (Photo: Phuong Quyen).

“After each mock exam, I got an average of 6-7 points per subject. Even though I studied hard, I still felt nervous in the stressful exam room,” Thanh said.

Although his house is not too far from the exam site, Dang Thanh Binh (a student at Cau Giay High School) got up, had breakfast and prepared to go to the exam. With a rather worried face, Binh said that he was still not sure about the knowledge of the exam subjects.

As the first candidates of the new general education program, the female students reassured themselves that they had no choice but to master the knowledge and then figure things out in the exam room.

This year, Binh chose physics and English for her high school graduation exam. The most worrying thing was that every time she took the test, she failed to pass 5 in physics.

The fact that the literature subject uses external materials makes this candidate even more worried, especially the reading comprehension section. As for the social commentary section, he hopes to pass. "My wish is to be admitted to the Academy of Finance," Binh shared.

Nguyen Xuan Bao, a 12th grade student at Yen Hoa High School in Cau Giay District, said he prepared his knowledge quite thoroughly. The male student chose to major in automotive engineering at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

"Today, my mother took me to the exam. I'm not too worried or stressed, but because I just had eye surgery a few days ago, I went to the exam today when my eyes were still quite painful," the male student said.

Exam of many new points

2025 is the first year that candidates will take the exam according to the 2018 General Education Program, marking a major turning point in a completely new way of teaching, testing and assessment.

Instead of taking 6 subjects as before, the number of subjects is reduced to 4, including compulsory math and literature. In addition, students choose 2 subjects they have studied at school (chemistry, physics, biology, geography, history, economic and legal education, information technology, technology and foreign languages).

The official exam in 2025 also brings many notable changes. The number of exam sessions is increased to 2, and in particular, each exam room can have up to 5 different subjects.

In addition, the number of exam codes for each subject will double compared to previous years with 48 exam codes (each exam session has 24 exam codes). Previously, the subjects (except literature) only had 24 exam codes.

This is also the largest exam ever, with the participation of more than 1.1 million candidates across 63 provinces and cities, held at 2,493 exam locations with more than 50,000 exam rooms.

Innovation turning point (Graphic photo: Nguyen Huyen).

Statistical results show that, in addition to the two compulsory subjects of literature (1,151,687 candidates) and math (1,145,449 candidates), among the elective subjects, history is the subject with the most registrations with 499,357 registrations.

Next is geography with 494,081 candidates, English with 358,870 candidates; physics (354,298 candidates), economic and legal education (247,248 candidates - only applicable to the 2018 program) and chemistry (246,700 candidates).

It is expected that about 200,000 personnel will be mobilized to participate in the organization of the exam, such as officials, teachers in the education sector, police, military, medical, electricity forces, etc.

The Prime Minister has closely directed and promptly issued many telegrams and directives on the preparation and organization of the exam.

Not only that, organizing the exam poses different challenges and requirements when the exam takes place in the context of the whole country implementing a two-tier local government arrangement.

At the national conference on preparations for the 2025 high school graduation exam on June 18, chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, it was emphasized that the 2025 high school graduation exam takes place at a historic time when the whole country is rearranging local administrative boundaries, implementing a two-level local government model, and ending the operation of the district level.

Therefore, the Prime Minister emphasized the requirement that it cannot affect the exam, especially at the grassroots level.

The Prime Minister affirmed that the high school graduation exam is an important "threshold"; it not only marks the "maturity" of students, but is also a "transitional" step that guides and shapes the future path of each student.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/hon-11-trieu-thi-sinh-buoc-vao-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2025-voi-mon-ngu-van-20250625170740276.htm