Candidates worry about being disadvantaged when combining math and English, what do experts advise?

(Dan Tri) - It is expected that in 10 days, the Ministry of Education and Training will announce the 2025 high school graduation exam scores. However, after the official answers were announced, most candidates were able to self-assess their scores, especially in multiple-choice subjects.

Not many candidates are expected to have high scores.

According to the general assessment of experts, this year's exam is considered to be more difficult than in 2024, clearly demonstrating the requirements to apply knowledge, synthesis skills and practical thinking. Therefore, the number of candidates achieving high scores is expected to be small.

Notably, the D01 group (math, literature, English) is considered "difficult" when the difficulty level of both math and English questions is considered the most difficult in the history of high school graduation exams. Meanwhile, literature is also not easy to get a high score.

In addition to D01, some combinations also include both math and English such as: A01 (math, physics, English), D07 (math, chemistry, English), D08 (math, biology, English), D09 (math, history, English), D10 (math, geography, English)...

Candidates listen to 2025 enrollment consultation (Photo: Gia Dinh University).

Dr. Mai Duc Toan, Director of the Admissions and Communications Center, Gia Dinh University, understands the candidates' concerns. He commented: "The candidates' concerns are completely justified when many schools consider the common benchmark scores for all groups instead of separating them separately."

Dr. Toan further analyzed that math and English have long been important subjects, often included in the most popular admission combinations such as A01, D01.

In 2025, the English test is considered to have the clearest differentiation, while the math test has highly classified questions. This is the reason why many candidates are worried that their test scores will be low, affecting their admission opportunities, especially for language or economics majors.

"The difficulty of this year's exam will certainly affect university admission results, especially for those who use combinations of both math and English. However, the important thing right now is not to worry, but to choose the right solution," said Dr. Toan.

MSc. Nguyen Thi Xuan Dung, Director of the Communication Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), also predicted that the number of candidates scoring 25 points or more this year will not be many.

According to Ms. Dung, the reason is that, on average, the score range for the entire exam is expected to be mainly around 6-7 points. Traditional combinations such as A00, B00, D01 tend to be clearly differentiated, with common ranging scores from 18-22 points. This score range basically meets the graduation assessment target, and at the same time, it is predicted that the university benchmark score will remain the same or decrease slightly in some majors.

There are still options to optimize your chances of getting into college.

In the above context, many candidates are worried about being disadvantaged when considering a combination of two subjects: math and English. MSc. Truong Thi Ngoc Bich, Director of the Information and Communication Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance (UEF), said that it is understanding that candidates are worried about the combination of subjects including math and English.

However, she advised candidates to calmly monitor the exam results, because many experts predict that the general benchmark score is also likely to decrease.

At the same time, students need to consider registering for backup admission methods such as reviewing transcripts, selecting finding according to the schools' own methods, and at the same time out the benchmark scores of their favorite majors.

"Based on the above analysis, students should choose the most suitable and suitable choice to maximize their chances of being admitted to their desired field of study. This year, the benchmark scores are converted to the same scale in all methods applied by schools, so the competition will not be as different as in previous years," Ms. Ngoc Bich shared.

Parents and candidates listen to 2025 university admissions consultation at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance (Photo: UEF).

Dr. Mai Duc Toan also reassured candidates because there are still many options to optimize their chances of getting into university.

He said that the new point of this year's admission is to expand the admission combinations, no longer limiting the maximum of 4 combinations for a major as before. This is a more flexible direction, creating conditions for candidates to choose the combination with the highest score for admission.

Therefore, to increase the chances of admission, admission experts recommend that candidates should refer to the benchmark scores of the last 3 years of the majors and schools they wish to register for.

In addition, please read carefully the Admission Regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Admission Plans of the schools. There may be minor adjustments each year, especially the 2025 regulations which have many notable new points, so candidates should understand the information about the major code, school code, admission combination, admission method and additional conditions (if any) of the major/school you are interested in.

From there, you compare it with your expected score to choose a combination and major with a suitable score deviation. The score deviation should not be too low, but you should not choose majors with too high standard scores.

"The safe way is to choose a major with a benchmark score that is 1.5-2 points higher than the expected score. In addition, candidates should consider admission using many methods at the same time such as considering high school exam scores, academic records, results of competency assessment exams, etc. A major can be considered using many methods to optimize the chance of being admitted right from the first choice," Dr. Mai Duc Toan advised.

Should we separate admission for each block?

In response to the proposal from several candidates that each block should be separated for admission, Dr. Mai Duc Toan acknowledged that this is only the opinion of a small group and is not feasible at the present time.

Because the decision on admission threshold also depends on the school's enrollment plan as well as the enrollment regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Furthermore, the difficulty of the exam varies from year to year. Dr. Toan assumes that if this year the separation of each block is applied because the math and English questions are difficult, but next year the questions for these two subjects change, the separation will no longer be appropriate.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/Giao-duc/thi-sinh-lo-thiet-thoi-khi-to-hop-co-toan-tieng-anh-chuyen-gia-khuyen-gi-20250707000709161.htm