Why are university admission scores in 2025 fluctuating beyond expectations?

High school graduation exam scores are lower than in 2024, but university admission scores are "sky high", contrary to previous predictions.

High school graduation exam scores decreased, but contrary to many experts' predictions, university admission scores based on exam scores increased to "the ceiling" in many fields of study, except for the health sector, which decreased.

Benchmark "hit the ceiling"

This year's university admission season recorded a sharp increase in the benchmark scores of many universities, with dozens of majors above 29 points, many majors nearly "touching the ceiling" and 6 majors reaching the "ceiling" of 30 points.

Among the 6 majors with a benchmark score of 30 points, there are 2 majors belonging to the military school group with benchmark scores for female students, which have very few quotas and are highly competitive. The remaining 4 majors belong to the pedagogical group: English Pedagogy and Chinese Pedagogy of the University of Foreign Languages ​​( Hanoi National University) and the University of Foreign Languages ​​(Hue University).

Many majors have benchmark scores above 29 points. The benchmark score for the History-Geography Pedagogy major of the University of Education (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) is a record high of 29.84 points, almost reaching the 30 mark. The benchmark score of the University of Information Technology (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) in 2024 was 28.3 points, but this year, the highest benchmark score is 29.6 points, applied to the Artificial Intelligence major. The University of Natural Sciences (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) had the highest benchmark score in 2024 of 28.5 points, but this year, this number is 29.56 points, in which the A00 combination has a benchmark score of up to 29.92 points.

Hanoi University of Science and Technology also has two majors with benchmark scores exceeding 29 points, namely Computer Science (29.19 points), Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (advanced program, 29.39 points), while in 2024, the highest benchmark score was 28.53 points. If in 2024, Hanoi University of Science and Technology had 5 majors with benchmark scores of 28 points or more, this year the number is 9 majors.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade has a common standard score increase of 0.5-2 points. The industry with the strongest increase is Mechatronic Engineering Technology, from a standard score of 18 last year to 22 points.

Candidates taking the High School Graduation Exam. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

In the group of health schools, the trend is the opposite, with the benchmark scores of all schools decreasing from 1 to 5.6 points depending on the major. The Preventive Medicine major of Hanoi Medical University decreased sharply by nearly 6 points, from 22.94 points (in 2024) to 17 points; the Nutrition major from 23.33 points to 18.75 points, a decrease of nearly 5 points. The decrease in benchmark scores of the medical major is consistent with the decrease in scores of the High School Graduation Exam for subjects in this group.

Some schools have the same or slightly lower admission scores compared to 2024, such as the University of Technology (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), Hanoi University of Education, Hue University of Education, etc. These are also schools that mainly consider admission based on high school graduation exam scores or have additional methods of considering competency assessment exam scores.

What do the experts say?

According to Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc (University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), this year's benchmark scores were pushed up very high, contrary to predictions when announcing the high school graduation exam scores due to the Ministry of Education and Training's regulations on converting admission scores. Accordingly, all admission methods must convert benchmark scores to a single scale.

“If schools mainly consider admission based on the Graduation Exam scores, the admission score will certainly decrease. But schools have many methods, including considering the transcripts, and transcripts are often ‘prettified.’ Therefore, converting to a single score scale will reduce the admission score,” said Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc.

Accordingly, Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc said that the benchmark score based on the high school graduation exam score being pushed too high will be disadvantageous for candidates applying for admission using this method when they have good or excellent scores but still cannot pass the entrance exam to their desired major.

“It is not advisable to convert to a single scale because each exam has a different ‘coordinate system’ with different levels of difficulty and goals. The SAT is a university entrance exam while the High School Graduation Exam has the main goal of graduation, so it is even more difficult to ensure the reliability of accurately assessing students' abilities,” said Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc. Mr. Duc believes that the conversion is forced.

Sharing the same opinion, Associate Professor Do Van Dung, former Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, also said that the unreasonable conversion formula for high school transcript scores is one of the reasons for the increase in benchmark scores.

Specifically, according to Associate Professor Do Van Dung, schools have introduced conversion formulas with very small differences, usually only 1-1.5 points. For example, a report card score of 29 points (average 9.67/subject) is converted to 28 points for the High School Graduation Exam score, while to achieve this score, students must achieve a near-perfect score. This causes the overall benchmark score to be pushed up.

“The conversion formula is not strict, not accurately reflecting the difference in difficulty between transcripts, which are easily ‘fabricated’ or uneven between schools, and the nationally standardized graduation exam. As a result, the benchmark scores for ‘hot’ majors often fluctuate between 27-30 points, eliminating many candidates with real ability but not achieving near-perfect scores,” said Associate Professor Do Van Dung.

Meanwhile, the proportion of quotas for alternative methods of admission based on high school graduation exam scores is increasing. Quotas for considering transcripts, direct admission and competency assessment exams are increasing, especially in schools in the South, sharply reducing the quota for considering high school graduation exam scores.

Associate Professor Do Van Dung commented that this will disadvantage students in disadvantaged areas due to limited access to competency assessment exams and admission based mainly on high school graduation exam scores.

According to Associate Professor Do Van Dung, in some majors, the high standard score also depends on the quota, especially in the pedagogical major.

From the actual enrollment at the school, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Vice Principal of Hue University of Education, said that the quota has a big impact on the benchmark score. Pedagogical schools are assigned quotas by the Ministry of Education and Training according to orders from localities. Therefore, the quotas are different from year to year and affect the benchmark score.

“For example, last year, the highest benchmark score of Hue University of Education was for History Education due to low enrollment. This year, History Education was assigned 152 quotas while Literature Education only had 60 quotas, so Literature Education led the entire school in benchmark scores,” said Associate Professor Nguyen Thanh Nhan.

Source: VNP

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/vi-sao-diem-chuan-dai-hoc-nam-2025-bien-dong-ngoai-du-doan-2025082410165275.htm