During the 2026 admissions season, applicants could receive various types of bonus points set by individual universities, in addition to preferential points based on geographic areas and policy categories.

Students who won prizes in national academic competitions but chose not to exercise their right to direct admission could receive up to three bonus points. Some applicants with exceptional achievements or talents could receive up to 1.5 points, while those holding foreign-language or international certificates could also receive bonuses of up to 1.5 points.

The maximum total bonus an applicant could receive in this year's admissions season was three points on a 30-point scale.

That produced a striking outcome. Although only five students nationwide achieved a perfect 30 out of 30 across three subjects in Vietnam's high school graduation exam, many universities recorded hundreds of applicants with admission scores of 30 or even higher after bonus points were added.

At the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, more than 40 applicants reached an admission score of 30 with bonus points from IELTS certificates, while only three achieved the maximum score based solely on exam results.

The university said the number of applicants using foreign-language certificates and SAT scores in admissions has risen steadily, from 1,367 in 2024 to nearly 2,300 in 2026. This year, such certificates were used to award applicants up to 1.5 bonus points.

At the University of Economics and Law in Ho Chi Minh City, 10,808 applicants submitted international English-language certificates, including 9,622 with IELTS. Notably, 1,486 admitted students had IELTS scores of 5.0 or higher, accounting for nearly half of the university's intake, and all received additional points during the admissions process.

During the 2026 admissions season, dozens of universities across Vietnam, including many major institutions, used IELTS and other international certificates to award bonus points.

Why does the ministry want to scrap bonus points?

According to Nguyen Tien Thao, director general of the Higher Education Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, bonus points can create inequality in university admissions because applicants do not have equal access to the certificates, examinations or activities that qualify for them. Access can depend on financial circumstances, where students live and their ability to pay.

The same certificate can also be converted into different scores, earn different numbers of bonus points or apply to different subject combinations depending on the university. In some cases, the same competency may effectively be counted twice - once in the admission score and again as a bonus.

Among high-scoring applicants, even a small bonus can determine whether a student is admitted, while there is not yet sufficient evidence to conclude that such additional points provide a better measure of a student's academic ability for a particular degree program, Thao said.

He said a more appropriate approach would be to assess competencies accurately and use the results for their intended purpose.

Applicants with foreign-language certificates could still have those qualifications converted into a foreign-language subject score within an admissions combination under publicly disclosed rules. Certificates could also be used to meet entry requirements for programs taught in a foreign language.

In that case, a certificate would serve as evidence of a directly relevant competency rather than as an additional advantage outside the main scoring scale.

The principle, Thao said, is that a competency should be recognized only once and under the same rules for all applicants.

Universities could compete more on actual quality

Pham Thai Son, admissions director at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that if universities can no longer use IELTS certificates, academic competition prizes or similar achievements to give applicants an advantage, competition among institutions would gradually shift toward the actual quality and value they offer.

Without bonus points as a tool to attract applicants, universities would have to demonstrate what makes their programs appealing, how much they charge in tuition, what scholarships they offer, and whether their facilities, learning environment, employment prospects, industry partnerships and institutional reputation genuinely deliver value to students. Career guidance, in particular, would become more important.

Son said that in the past, a student might study for IELTS because the certificate could be converted into an admission score or earn bonus points for certain universities and degree programs.

Once that scoring advantage disappears, students will have to ask themselves: Why am I studying for IELTS? Do I actually need English proficiency for my degree and future career? Son said this could help return foreign-language study to its fundamental purpose.

However, he said any change in admissions policy should come with a sufficiently long transition period so students have time to prepare.

If Vietnam changes how IELTS certificates, academic competition awards and similar achievements are used, Son suggested a transition of around three years, with the new rules taking effect in 2029, for example.

What matters, he said, is that the new regulations remain stable, allowing students to plan their studies from the beginning of high school instead of constantly adjusting to changes in university admissions methods.

Le Huyen