Why do public universities 'turn their backs' on considering transcripts for admission?

Academic records once reigned supreme

For many years, considering high school transcripts has been an admission method of many universities. In 2024 alone, hundreds of universities will consider high school transcripts, including leading universities such as: Foreign Trade, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City Economics, Ho Chi Minh City Law, Ho Chi Minh City Technical Education, Hanoi Pedagogy, Ho Chi Minh City Pedagogy...

The main criteria for considering transcripts are 5 semester scores (grades 10, 11 and semester 1 of grade 12), grades 11 and 12 or 3 semester scores (grade 11 and semester 1 of grade 12). It is rare for a school to use 6 semester scores or transcript scores as just one of the criteria combined with other methods.

Regarding the quota, most schools reserve over 20% for considering transcripts, but some schools reserve up to 40% - 50% of the total quota. Some schools consider transcripts in multiple rounds.

The 2025 enrollment season has not yet arrived, but many public universities have announced to eliminate or reduce enrollment quotas based on academic records such as: Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, National Economics University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, University of Industry and Trade, Nha Trang University...

Mr. Pham Thai Son, Admissions Director - Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that many public universities "turned their backs" on considering transcripts because there was a significant difference in transcript scores between high schools, leading to difficulties in accurately assessing candidates' abilities. Using transcripts as admission criteria could cause unfairness among candidates.

On the other hand, schools want to minimize cheating and score enhancement. “Many universities believe that using transcripts in admissions can lead to cheating or score enhancement, affecting the transparency of admissions,” said Mr. Son.

In addition, according to Mr. Son, admission based on academic records makes students subjective and negligent in studying and reviewing for high school graduation exams, affecting quality. Therefore, many universities have switched to other admission methods such as using high school graduation exam results, competency assessment exams, thinking assessments or combining multiple criteria to ensure quality in admission.

According to Associate Professor Bui Hoai Thang, Head of Training Department - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, from 2025, in terms of time frame, with the requirement (expected) to use all the results of the entire 12th grade, it will be very late for schools to consider admission, very close to the high school graduation exam, the possibility of not creating much attraction. Not to mention, at the time of finishing school and having the results of the 12th grade, students are focusing on reviewing for the high school graduation exam, should not be distracted by the paperwork procedures for admission registration.

Turning away from transcripts because they are 'too fake', students admitted have poor quality

Associate Professor Do Van Dung, former Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, said that many universities are "turning around" in recruiting students based on transcripts because there are many factors that "we only realize after experiencing bitterly".

The first factor, according to Mr. Dung, is that admission based on academic records does not guarantee input quality. Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training show that there is a large difference between graduation exam scores and academic records.

“Initially, the review of transcripts was quite good, but after 1-2 years of implementation, high schools tried to increase their students’ scores so that they could be admitted to university. Some schools even had two transcripts, one real transcript so that students could know their level, while the transcript recorded in the transcript was added for students to consider for admission,” said Mr. Dung, adding that this made the quality of university admission poor.

Students admitted based on transcripts cannot keep up with students admitted based on exam scores. The difference in qualifications makes teaching difficult. If the questions are difficult for good students, it is not suitable for students admitted based on transcripts. After 1-2 years, students start to drop out, affecting the university's income. For schools that value the quality of training, considering transcripts is no longer suitable.

Mr. Dung also said that from 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training plans to tighten the early admission quota to only 20%, forcing schools to stop considering transcripts because this number is not large.