Finalize regulations for high school graduation exam 2025

On December 24, the Ministry of Education and Training announced regulations for high school graduation exams from 2025 with many new points, including reducing the number of subjects and exam sessions.

High school graduation exam from 2025 has the following new points:

The exam is organized in 3 sessions with 3 subjects: literature, math and 1 session of elective exam including 2 of the following subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, economic and legal education, information technology, industrial technology (technology and agriculture), foreign language. Candidates will be arranged according to the elective exam combination to optimize the exam room and exam score.

Compared to previous years, this year's exam has reduced 1 exam session and 2 subjects.

Candidates use a combination of process assessment scores (report cards) and exam results in graduation recognition consideration at a ratio of 50-50. The average report card score of the years is calculated by weight.

Increasing the rate of using process assessment scores (report cards) from 30% to 50% to more closely assess learners' abilities according to the 2018 General Education Program (including many other abilities that the graduation exam does not fully assess). In addition, report card scores from grades 10 and 11 are also used (with a smaller weighting of grade 12) instead of only grade 12 as before. This change has the effect of promoting teaching and learning right from when students enter high school.

Foreign language certificates will continue to be used for exam exemption in graduation recognition consideration but will not be converted into 10 points in graduation recognition consideration as before; the graduation score calculation formula does not include foreign language points in this case.

This approach continues to encourage foreign language learning but aims to be more equitable in graduation. For example, previously, students with an IELTS 4.0 certificate were also converted to a score of 10, just like students with an IELTS 8.5 score.

Regarding incentive points: Eliminate extra points for vocational certificates for all candidates; eliminate extra points for IT certificates, foreign languages, and intermediate vocational degrees for candidates in Continuing Education.

This regulation allows foreign candidates to use Vietnamese language certificates to be exempted from the literature exam in the recognition of high school graduation.

This content aims to facilitate the recognition of graduation for foreigners studying general education programs in Vietnam while still ensuring basic knowledge of literature through studying literature in class and taking exams to obtain Vietnamese language certificates.

For the first time, the high school graduation exam has an additional method of transporting exam papers from the exam council's location to the exam printing locations of 63 provinces and cities via the encrypted and secure transmission system of the Government Cipher Committee.

This new method of transporting exam papers helps to transfer original exam papers quickly and promptly, reducing the time and personnel required to transport exam papers as with the traditional method currently applied; at the same time, this is also an early, remote and important preparation step in implementing the exam plan according to the announced roadmap for converting from paper-based exams to computer-based exams.