University Admissions 2025: Social Science Majors 'Stuck' in Group C00

The addition of the C00 combination in the admissions process for social sciences and humanities after recent uproar seems to ensure fairness, but many experts say that in reality it hides other potential risks of injustice...

IS THERE A REMOVAL OF BLOCK C?

The first place to announce university admission information for 2025, including a group of social sciences (KHXH) majors that do not consider the C00 combination, is Hanoi Open University, announced in early April. Accordingly, with the method of considering high school graduation exam results, the law majors (law, economic law, international law) of the school use 4 combinations for admission: D01 (math, literature, English), C01 (math, literature, physics), C03 (math, literature, history), C14 (literature, history, English). Last year, the school used 3 combinations for admission with this group of majors: A00 (math, physics, chemistry), D01, C00 (literature, history, geography). This year, the school does not consider C00 and A00 is also removed.

Next is the Academy of Journalism and Propaganda, announced in mid-April. The admission combination structure of all 4 groups of majors, except for the D01 combination (math, literature, English), follows the following formula: math + literature + 3rd subject; literature + English + 3rd subject. The 3rd subject is one of 3 subjects: information technology, history, economiceducation and law. That means there is no more traditional C00 combination, nor is there geography in any combination, for all majors.

Students from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (left) chat with an American student during an exchange event with international students.

PHOTO: THU QUYNH

Then there is the University of Law, Hanoi National University, announced at the end of May, with 6 admission groups: C03 (math, literature, history), A07 (math, history, geography), A01 (math, physics, English), D01 (math, literature, English), D14 (literature, history, English), D15 (literature, geography, English).

But it was not until June 4, when the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (UHSHN) announced its enrollment information, that public opinion exploded with attention to the absence of the C00 group in the admissions process for the Social Sciences and Humanities majors at some universities. Some opinions also condemned the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for removing the C group, while in reality the school still uses many C group combinations, or places high weights on subjects that are considered typical for the C group such as history, geography, business education and law such as D14, D15, D66 (literature, English, economic and legal education).

Only the Academy of Journalism and Propaganda has dropped geography, while the remaining schools also place a high weight on social sciences when choosing admission combinations. History, business education and law are all used flexibly, not only with combinations whose main subject is literature but also with math and English. Thus, the problem of choosing combinations for schools lies in the keyword "combination C00" rather than "block C".

C 00 RESTRICTION DUE TO THIS YEAR'S EXAM STRUCTURE?

According to Associate Professor Dang Thi Thu Huong, Vice Principal of Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the school initially selected the combination to use in enrollment based on the requirements of the high school graduation exam, following the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training in selecting the enrollment combination and the school's development strategy.

2025 is the first year of the high school graduation exam of the 2018 General Education Program. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, candidates taking the high school graduation exam must take 2 compulsory subjects: math and literature; and 2 elective subjects from the remaining subjects taught at the high school level. With the structure of the high school graduation exam according to the new general education program from 2025, in theory, it is possible to encode 36 graduation exam combinations (2 + 2) and 81 university admission combinations based on the combination of compulsory and elective subjects of the candidates.

The Ministry of Education and Training requires that literature or mathematics must be included in the admission combination. According to the development strategy of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the second subject the school prioritizes is English. The third subject is one of the remaining subjects (other than literature) in group C.

Mr. Do Ngoc Anh, Director of the Center for Communication and Admissions, Hanoi Open University, said that the 4 groups the school included in the admissions for the law group all have 2 subjects: math and literature (basic subjects), the 3rd subject the school chose according to the principle of being able to cover both block A and block C, to have the most suitable candidates.

As someone who has worked in admissions for many years, Associate Professor Truong Dai Luong, Chairman of the Board of Hanoi University of Culture, understands the logic of why some schools do not include the C00 combination in the list of combinations used to consider admission to social sciences and humanities. Last year and before, to be considered for graduation, students who chose to take the social sciences exam had to take history and geography. But this year, students can choose either history or geography.

Associate Professor Truong Dai Luong analyzed: "I believe the main reason is the structure of this year's exam. The Ministry of Education and Training does not have statistics, but I think the number of candidates taking both history and geography exams this year is much less than in previous years. Meanwhile, there is a tendency to prioritize English. Therefore, schools do not see the need to include the C00 combination in order to choose many other combinations that the recruitment source can cover more subjects, because priority must be given to the two "hard" subjects: literature, English or math, English".

12th grade students in Ho Chi Minh City participate in the 2025 high school graduation mock exam

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

N THE RISK OF MOST CANDIDATES PASSING THE ENTRANCE DUE TO HIGH C00 SCORE

When public opinion was stirred up by the fact that many universities had dropped the C00 group, on June 6, the Ministry of Education and Training sent an official dispatch to all training institutions nationwide with two important notes regarding the "dropping of the C00 group". First, schools must review the subject groups to ensure fairness in the admission process. Second, they must pay attention to the timing (currently, candidates have completed their registration for the high school graduation exam) when announcing information that affects the rights of candidates.

Immediately after receiving the Ministry's dispatch, Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Hanoi Open University adjusted their enrollment information, adding the C00 combination to most of the social sciences and humanities majors. Both schools said that the announced enrollment information complied with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, and that the addition of the C00 combination was to create the best conditions for candidates applying to the schools.

However, according to many experts, with the decision to add the C00 combination, some schools will be at risk of being "stuck" in the future in finding a solution to "ensure fairness" in admission. For many years now, the benchmark scores of the Social Sciences and Humanities majors have always been a topic of discussion, the reason being that the benchmark scores of the C00 combination are too high. Many schools that recruit many combinations for one major have had to prioritize the C00 combination quota to "pull down" the benchmark scores of this combination, but the results have not been positive. The benchmark scores of the C00 combination are always the highest in the country, at 28 - 29 points/3 subjects, even some majors of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities are nearly 30 points/3 subjects.

An admissions officer at the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities said that this year the Ministry of Education and Training does not allow the quota to be divided into groups, and candidates do not register for groups when registering for admission. Candidates only need to register for their major and school, and the admission system will automatically select the group and admission method that the candidate has the highest score for consideration. With this regulation, the school faces the risk that most of the candidates are admitted thanks to the high C00 group score. This not only affects the school's orientation towards international integration in training but also creates the risk that C00 candidates will take up all the places of candidates from other groups.

"There are also opinions that it is possible to find technical measures to convert equivalent scores, creating a fair benchmark score for the combinations. But this is very difficult for Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, if the exam questions are still given in the same way as previous years, and the score distribution of social science subjects is similar to previous years. In previous years, the benchmark score for the same major of the school's C00 combination was 3 - 3.5 points higher than other combinations (on a scale of 30). For example, if the difference is less than 2 points, technical measures can be used to convert. If the difference is up to 3 points, will the Ministry of Education and Training and public opinion accept it?", the above official shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tuyen-sinh-dh-2025-nganh-khoa-hoc-xa-hoi-mac-ket-trong-to-hop-c00-185250609191930234.htm