After the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) released score distributions, experts had predicted that university cut-off scores based on high school exam results would drop, especially for majors using the exam groups comprising math and English for admission.

However, official cutoff scores announced by schools were very high. Universities even demanded a perfect score of 30 for some majors, though only nine students nationwide scored a perfect 30 at the national high school finals. 

Some top-tier schools, previously leading in cutoff scores, saw reductions this year, particularly in the exam groups of D01 (math, literature, English), D07 (math, chemistry, English), and A01 (math, physics, English).

Many questioned the ‘cutoff score paradox’: top schools dropped to lower tiers, while lower-tier schools surged to the top overnight.

A northern university admissions official explained that this year’s “unusual” cutoff scores stem from different admission score calculation formulas. For instance, some schools double math or English scores and scale to 30. These schools won’t have high cutoffs this year due to low math and English score distributions this year.

Additionally, foreign language score conversion scales vary. Some schools generously convert international certificates, like equating IELTS 5.0 to a perfect 10 in English. But ithers require IELTS 7.0-8.0 for a 10.

Beyond favorable conversions, candidates also receive various bonus points added to their high school exam scores.

“Converting certificates to high scores already benefits candidates, given this year’s tough exam, but some schools even add bonus points. This double-counts a single certificate,” the official noted.

This, according to experts, causes ‘score inflation’. A candidate who has an admission score of 22 in one school’s high school exam-based admission method may reach 26 at another. Or a 23-point candidate is admitted to a 25-point major thanks to 3 bonus points, while a 24-point candidate without bonuses fails.

Another factor is score conversion. The official noted that, theoretically, equivalent conversions across admission methods ensure fairness, but schools’ differing formulas create inconsistencies and a “confusing situation”.

For example, some schools favor academic transcripts as an enrollment method, and therefore, they design conversions to benefit that method. Thus, gaps between transcript and exam scores can be 4-5 points at some schools but only one point at others.

“So, comparing cutoff scores among schools this year is inappropriate. A ‘pure’ high school exam score of 27-28 is already very high. Candidates with high admission scores from conversions and bonuses may not accurately reflect true ability,” the official said.

Impossible to compare cutoff scores across universities

Nguyen Phong Dien, Deputy Director of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said comparing this year’s cutoff scores across universities is neither feasible nor appropriate, as cutoffs are based on admission scores, not raw exam scores.

“Admission scores are calculated per each university’s autonomous formula, including incentive points, priority points, subject multipliers, aptitude points, and foreign certificate conversions, i.e., too diverse for comparison,” he said.

Multiple admission methods exist, using high school exam scores, competency assessments, critical thinking tests, VSAT, SAT, A-Level, and more. Schools must convert all admission cutoff scores to a common scale (typically 30, using a high school exam combination as the baseline). Thus, Dien said, purely comparing cutoff scores across schools is unreasonable.

The head of academic affairs at another university said that this year, admission thresholds depend heavily on each university’s point conversion method. Comparing scores across universities to assess entry quality may not be accurate.

For example, schools using many admission methods might end up with higher exam-based thresholds due to their conversion schemes. Meanwhile, universities in fields like healthcare, where only national exam results are considered and no conversions apply, may actually see lower cutoffs.

“Therefore, it makes no sense to say that 30 at one school is ‘better’ than 26 at another. That’s an apples-to-oranges comparison,” he said.

Thuy Nga