Associate Prof. Bui Hoai Thang, head of the Training Office at HCMC University of Technology (HCMUT), said the high school graduation exam should be designed only to assess whether students have achieved the expected learning outcomes of general education. 

Using a single examination for both graduation certification and university admissions, he argued, makes it difficult to optimize either objective while increasing pressure on students.

At HCMUT, since 2022, Thang said the university's combined admissions method, which assigns 70 percent of the weighting to the aptitude test, alongside graduation exam scores and academic records, has shown a strong correlation between students' admission results and their academic performance at university.

He said the growing number of universities adopting combined admissions methods shows that the separation of university admissions from the high school graduation examination is already taking place in practice.

Thang also believes the university admissions system should be designed in line with the different tiers of higher education.

For leading universities responsible for training elite talent and conducting research and innovation, highly selective entrance examinations should remain an essential component.

Meanwhile, universities that train students based on market demand should have more flexible admissions, combining criteria such as academic records, competency assessment results, personal achievements, and practical experience.

For institutions providing mass higher education to meet large-scale workforce demand, completing the high school program should be sufficient for students to enroll.

Nguyen Tan Tran Minh Khang, president of the University of Information Technology, said universities should be given the right to organize their own entrance examinations as part of institutional autonomy.

However, if each university organizes its own independent exam, it would place a significant burden on students and society.

A more reasonable solution, he said, is to develop shared competency assessment examinations used by multiple universities, combined with high school graduation exam results and other admissions criteria. This approach would preserve university autonomy while reducing the number of exams and costs for students.

Pham Thai Son, director of admissions at HCMC University of Industry and Trade, said that following the exam incident in Tuyen Quang, authorities should not rush to propose a nationwide university entrance examination.

Adding another examination would increase costs for the government, universities, parents, and more than one million students each year, he said.

He argued that the use of high school graduation exam results in university admissions should not be blamed for exam-related misconduct. While the incentive to cheat may increase when an exam carries greater consequences, the root causes lie in weaknesses in exam organization, oversight, and enforcement of regulations.

According to Son, universities that require a high degree of candidate differentiation can organize their own competency assessments or entrance examinations, while other institutions can continue to use high school graduation exam results or results from reputable competency assessments.

"The most important issue is not whether we add or remove an examination, but whether we can build a transparent, fair, and reliable assessment system," Son emphasized.

Cu Xuan Tien from the University of Economics and Law said that returning to the pre-2015 admissions model, when many universities organized their own entrance examinations, would impose significant social costs. 

Students in remote and disadvantaged areas would continue to face disadvantages. The demand for exam preparation would flourish, and it would be difficult to ensure consistency across different examinations.

He said the process of separating the two functions has in fact been underway for years, with the development of competency assessments by the two national universities, the thinking skills assessment conducted by Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and various other admissions methods.

The priority now, he said, should not be debating whether to separate the two functions but completing a clear transition roadmap.

Tien said the first step should be to professionalize the assessment workforce and establish independent oversight mechanisms. This should be followed by developing exam question banks, expanding computer-based testing, and holding multiple exam sessions throughout the year to reduce the pressure of having "one exam determine an entire future."

The network of competency assessment test centers should also be expanded nationwide to support students in disadvantaged areas, while quality assurance for independent university entrance examinations should be strengthened.

Le Huyen