While some lawmakers propose abolishing the test, others warn it ensures objective measurement.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), although 773,167 students were accepted into universities during the first round of 2025 admissions, 147,690 of them chose not to enroll, representing 19.1% of the total.

As over 42% of university applicants currently rely on high school transcripts for admission, Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training is collecting feedback on whether to maintain or abolish this method starting in 2026.

Hoang Ngoc Vinh, PhD, believes that while the university admission process have seen bold reforms overall, the lack of standardization, inflated admission scores, and persisting unfairness are critical issues that must not be ignored.

Tens of universities, including top-tier schools, have had to conduct additional admissions and seek more students for popular majors such as medicine, dentistry, literature, history, and geography.

Years ago, transcript-based admissions were a commonly used method, but recently many universities have lost interest in the approach.

This year’s admissions cycle left both students and institutions overwhelmed as delays and procedural errors piled up.

The Ministry of Education confirms that technical errors in the 2025 university admissions were due to universities’ data input, not a system malfunction.

Students reported being denied admission despite meeting cutoff scores, as universities struggled with system errors and unclear policies.

The bonus point scheme and English certificate conversions have turned IELTS into a “golden ticket” when a student with a 27 on the high school graduation exam gets admitted to university while another with 29 points is rejected.

Experts have observed that cutoff scores this year are inconsistent among university admissions due to varying calculation and conversion methods, making it impossible to claim that 30 points at one school is “better” than 26 points at another.

Education ministry says record 30-point cut-offs reflect stratification, not inflation.

With only one day left, the ‘filtering’ process, or ‘loc ao’ in Vietnamese, for university admissions on the Ministry of Education and Training’s system will conclude. After that, universities will begin announcing the 2025 admission benchmarks.

In recent years, university admission benchmarks based on academic transcripts have risen, with some programs requiring near perfect scores.

University entrance data shows transcript grades exceed exam scores by up to 5.39 points, prompting policy changes.

On April 16, the Vietnam National University HCM City (VNUHCMC) announced competency test scores for 126,297 university candidates. Analysing the score distribution, experts predict significant fluctuations in converted competency test benchmarks.

Under the 2025 admission plan of the Hanoi University of Culture, candidates with an IELTS score of 4.0 will receive three bonus points when applying for the school. This has sparked much debate among educators.