Students of Hanoi's Nguyen Tat Thanh High School.

Top-rated schools in Hanoi have begun delivering application forms, officially starting the enrollment season. Since the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has asked schools not to organize entrance exams, schools are enrolling students based on their records at primary schools.

However, as a headmaster of a secondary school in Hanoi said, there are numerous students with good records and it is difficult to choose the best students without entrance exams.

The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for Gifted Students has announced it will enroll 200 sixth graders for the 2017-2018 academic year. 

The candidates must be those who received a 19 score from year-end literature and math exams in all the last five years at primary schools. 

The students winning top prizes at district and city competitions will have privileges.

The rat race for prestigious secondary schools has begun, even though the 2016-2017 academic year finished only days ago.

Another Hanoi-based high school - Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary & High School - has also announced it will give priority to students who won top prizes at the competitions organized by the Hanoi Education & Training Department.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, headmaster of Hanoi's Nguyen Sieu Secondary School, said the school will prioritize students with foreign language skills. 

Those who apply for classes to follow Cambridge Curriculum (CIE and VNI models) will have to show Cambridge English Flyers certificates, or attend the English skill test organized by the school. 

Students’ English skills will be recognized through exchange programs and other activities.

The Marie Curie Secondary School plans to enroll 360 students this year, with half of them following primary education at the school who will continue on to secondary school. 

This means that the school will have only 180 seats for students from other primary schools.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Khang, Headmaster of Marie Curie Secondary School, the students living near the school or have brothers/sisters studying at the school will be preferred. 

Students with English certificates from prestigious English centers will be given higher priority.

Mr. Van Nhu Cuong, the President of Luong The Vinh Secondary School, on May 26 said he received applications from hundreds of students who got perfect 20 score from year-end exams in all the last five years at primary school.

He commented that in the past, it was difficult to get a perfect 10/10 score from any exam.

Since there are numerous students with perfect exam scores, Luong The Vinh and other schools consider other achievements of students to decide whether to enroll them. 

However, the solution has not helped much, because three out of every 10 candidates won prizes at competitions.

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Thanh Mai