Why are the 2025 high school graduation exams math and English difficult but physics very… easy?

The 2025 high school graduation exam has just ended, and there has been a debate about the difficulty of the math and English exams. Many people said that the exams for these two subjects were 'too difficult'. Meanwhile, some other subjects, such as physics, which were usually difficult in previous years, were surprisingly 'too easy' this year.

On some forums, there are many opinions harshly criticizing the math and English exam questions for the 2025 high school graduation exam. Talking to some teachers who teach grade 12, I see that they all express concerns, frustration, and reactions to the exam questions for these two subjects. Grade 12 students and parents whose children are taking the high school graduation exam this year, many people share the same sentiment that the questions for these two subjects are… really difficult!

The current high school graduation exam is to recognize the completion of the program, serve as a basis for university and college admissions, and evaluate the teaching andlearning process at the secondary level. In the context of the 2018 General Education Program just completing a round (from grade 1 to grade 12), this year's high school graduation exam is even more meaningful. In which, the exam plays a particularly important role.

The 2025 high school graduation exam has ended, causing much controversy about the difficulty and ease of the exam questions.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

Why is there such a difference in the difficulty of the exam this year, even though it has the same objectives?

Math and English problems are difficult; the reason is easy because of... "dice"

To classify candidates, the content of the high school graduation exam has 3 levels: knowledge, understanding, application (including application and high application), and competency-based assessment.

In the 2025 high school graduation exam, the questions in the exam are given at a ratio of 4-3-3 (respectively knowledge, understanding, application). When the Ministry of Education and Training announced the reference exam questions for the high school graduation exam, the ministry also announced the exam matrix for all subjects. This effectively supports the teaching, learning, testing, and exam review process in schools. The matrix covers all topics, closely follows the subject curriculum, and is based on the level of thinking, so teachers cannot teach or learn by rote. The exam matrix is ​​compiled by teachers who are good at their profession and have a lot of experience in creating exam questions with a serious and absolutely honest working attitude. The Ministry of Education and Training and the High School Graduation Exam Council strengthen management to achieve the goal by many measures.

The Ministry of Education and Training wants to limit the negativity and subjectivity of the test makers, so it lets the software choose based on the matrix. However, this also leads to risks such as the test questions are not comprehensive, difficult to meet the goal of being within reach but differentiated, especially not suitable for current teaching.

Is that why the content of alternating current, a good knowledge with many practical applications, was not "picked" by the computer to be included in this year's physics exam? And is that also why it leads to "inflation" of real-life math in math questions, or "business strategy", "impersonating the environment to cheat customers" - phrases used in English questions that are very unfamiliar with the topics of the English program that students learn.

The test matrix randomly generated by the software during the test making process is the reason why the test questions are not equal, making physics, chemistry, and biology very easy this year while math and English are "over the limit".

According to the 2018 General Education Program, in addition to the two compulsory subjects of literature and mathematics, the remaining two subjects are chosen by students. This has the advantage of reducing pressure on candidates, and students will take the test for whatever they learn, but there is a potential for inconsistency in the level of difficulty between the exams.

The worry of extra classes and tutoring "following" exam questions

The difficulty of an exam depends on factors including the knowledge and skills required, the type of questions asked, the language used in the exam, the time given to candidates, the percentage of candidates who answer correctly, and the degree of differentiation.

In the past, although schools have tried hard to implement the 2018 General Education Program with new textbooks, the number of attempts has only been one. The difficulty of the test has been tested for students in 3 regions, also once. If the number of attempts and samples were greater, would it be possible to ensure that the test questions were created as they were recently?

The formula for calculating the 2025 high school graduation exam score according to Circular 24/2024/TT-BGDDT divides the weight 50-50 between the graduation exam score and the learning results of 3 years in high school. Thus, the questions in the exam at the level of knowledge, understanding, and application at the ratio of 4-3-3 are reasonable. However, candidates born in 2007 were heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, and online teaching for a long time caused teachers and students to temporarily stop going to school, so the quality is still low. Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son once said: "The consequences of the epidemic are long-lasting and overcoming it is not an overnight process."

High school graduation exam is a huge event for the education sector, affecting millions of people.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

The Ministry of Education and Training should soon evaluate the recent high school graduation exam, its multi-faceted impact, and to what extent? If necessary, supplement and adjust the guidance plan, and promptly announce the reference exam for the 2026 high school graduation exam. Otherwise, the policy of "teaching as the exam is" is not good. High school principals will be confused when building the education plan for the 2025-2026 school year, while students will be confused about how to study for the exam, and then there will be widespread extra teaching and learning "following" because the exam is too difficult.

Currently, localities are implementing marking. With this year's exam, we need to have more common marking. From the marking results, evaluate and build a mass marking scenario to ensure the legitimate rights of candidates. For example, look at the results of candidates when doing multiple choice questions, right or wrong - answering one question correctly gets 0.25 points, if wrong, they lose 0.25 points.

There are many ways to "pacify the people" while still ensuring the high school graduation exam is safe, serious, follows exam regulations, and is effective.

The high school graduation exam is a huge event for the education sector, affecting millions of people, both in terms of the breadth of activities, depth of awareness, height of dreams, and length of time. When the exam receives widespread public backlash, it means there is a big problem that needs to be fixed.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-de-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2025-toan-tieng-anh-kho-nhung-ly-lai-rat-de-18525062910000718.htm