Are university entrance exam candidates who take Math and English at a disadvantage?

Math and English appear in many university entrance exam combinations.

For Math, in addition to three familiar combinations such as A00, A01, B00, this subject is also included in a series of other admission combinations from A00 to A18; B00 to B08; D01 to D08; D17 to D35; D84 to D99.

English also appears in many combinations such as D01, A01, B08; D07 to D15... In particular, Math and English are 2 subjects in the combination A01 (Math - Physics - English) and D01 (Math - Literature - English) used by many schools for admission.

In the recent high school graduation exam, the Math and English subjects, especially English, were considered difficult. So if candidates use these two subjects for admission, will they be at a disadvantage?

Analyzing this issue, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Dung, Director of Information and Communications, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, this year's high school graduation exam in English is considered by many teachers and candidates to be more difficult than in previous years. This makes many parents and candidates worry about the competitiveness in university admissions, especially with combinations that use English such as D01, A01, D14, etc.

However, candidates do not need to worry too much because when the exam is difficult, the scores will decrease across the board, and the admission benchmark will also be adjusted accordingly.

“In other words, if the exam is difficult, all candidates will be affected - that is the factor that creates fairness in the admission process. Therefore, the admission process using a combination of English subjects will not cause any disadvantages for each candidate,” said Ms. Dung.

Graduate — Candidates shed tears at the end of the Math graduation exam.

However, Mr. Cu Xuan Tien, Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Department, University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University) said that candidates applying for admission with a combination of 3 subjects Math, Literature, and English are more or less disadvantageous because both Math and English are difficult, especially English.

In which, the combination of 2 subjects Math and English will be at a disadvantage compared to the combination of only 1 subject Math (such as Math, Physics, Chemistry) because the Physics and Chemistry exam questions are easier, so the possibility of the combination of these 2 subjects having a higher admission score will be higher.

“Although the questions are difficult in general, with the A00 combination (Math, Physics, Chemistry), only Math is considered difficult. Therefore, candidates using the D01 combination for admission will be at a disadvantage if they are considered with other combinations without adjusting the difference in benchmark scores,” Mr. Tien said.

Mr. Tien said that to ensure fairness for candidates and help schools select students with good academic performance, schools should refer to the Ministry's high school graduation exam score distribution to analyze, evaluate and adjust the difference in standard scores between admission groups.

Meanwhile, a representative of a university in Ho Chi Minh City commented that only the English subject was a bit difficult, while the Math subject was relatively difficult. Average candidates could get 6-7 points, good candidates around 8 points, and excellent candidates 9 points. It is predicted that this year's English score will be 1-2 points lower than last year.

Candidates after the 2025 High School Graduation Math exam

According to him, if English was a compulsory subject in the past, candidates would certainly be at a disadvantage, but this year English is an elective subject, and only confident candidates will register for the exam.

For university admission based on high school graduation exam scores, the higher score will be selected. It is predicted that the standard score based on high school graduation exam scores this year will be lower than last year by a maximum of 1-2 points if candidates choose a block with English for admission. As for blocks with Math and Literature such as block A00 or C00 or B00, it is similar to last year because the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History and Geography are equivalent.

“This year, candidates who follow the D block trend will be at a disadvantage compared to other blocks. Because the D block is mainly language majors. There will definitely be a difference in English scores between candidates in big cities like Hanoi , Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces. Because students in these cities mostly choose English as their exam subject. It is predicted that universities like Foreign Trade, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, Finance and Marketing, Economics and Law... will have to reduce their benchmark scores by about 1 point compared to last year,” he said.

This year's high school graduation exam has subjects that are considered difficult for students, such as English and Math. Although the Ministry of Education and Training affirmed that the exam questions did not go beyond the curriculum, they clearly exceeded the students' capacity and awareness.

The fairest and most reasonable solution at present is to rebuild the scoring scale, which eliminates all difficult factors that exceed the requirements on students' abilities and qualities.

To do this, I think it is necessary to invite both domestic and international experts to properly assess the difficulty of each question. Any question that exceeds the required threshold for high school students will be eliminated. Then the regional gap, social groups, and different learning conditions will be converted to a standard and appropriate scale.

Re-establishing a new scoring scale may result in students in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City who have been well prepared for English getting 10 points, but this also provides a more objective assessment of their abilities. However, this approach may conflict with the current graduation exam regulations.

However, when the exam is too difficult, the score distribution is often concentrated at a low level, causing the difference between the scores (0.25-0.5 points) to not accurately reflect the students' abilities. Rebuilding the scoring scale is quite complicated and time-consuming, so the announcement of the 2025 high school graduation exam scores may be delayed.

(Dr. Le Dong Phuong, universityeducation expert, Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences)

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thi-sinh-xet-tuyen-dai-hoc-co-mon-toan-va-mon-tieng-anh-nam-2025-co-thiet-thoi-2417577.html