Total shock: The reason why the 10th grade benchmark score in Nghe An is at an unprecedented low

TPO - Many schools in Nghe An this year have had unprecedentedly low 10th grade benchmark scores. One of the reasons is that the number of students in the entire province has decreased by nearly 5,000.

"Sweeping" to the last student still short of quota

Recently, the news that a student only needs 2.5 points/3 subjects (including priority and incentive points if any) to be admitted to Nam Dan 2 High School (Thien Nhan commune, Nghe An ) has caused a stir in public opinion. Many people expressed concern about the quality of training when the entrance standard score is too low.

Mr. Pham Xuan Phu, Principal of Nam Dan 2 High School, confirmed that the school's admission score for the second round was 2.5 points, 7 points lower than the first round's score (9.5 points). However, out of 31 candidates who qualified for the second round, only 1 student scored 2.5 points. According to Mr. Phu, the low admission score was predicted. And despite the very low score, the school still lacked 12 students compared to the assigned target.

Except for the 2024 - 2025 school year, the admission score to Nam Dan 2 High School was exceptionally high at 13.2 points when for the first time the school had 720 students registered for the exam. In previous years, the admission score to the school was only 7 - 9 points and was in the bottom group of the province.

Candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam at Nam Dan 2 High School

Before this year's enrollment season, some public schools in the old Nam Dan district have "invited" students to register for the school due to concerns that there will not be enough students to register for the exam. Because the number of 9th grade students in the area has decreased by 500 students and nearly 600 students have registered for NV1 in non-public schools, continuing education centers or in the old Hung Nguyen district to take the exam. Thus, in reality, public schools in Nam Dan are short of nearly 170 applications and this is the reason why this school year all schools have lowered their admission scores and have to "sweep" down to the last student.

7.75 points is the benchmark for grade 10 at Tan Ky High School (former Tan Ky district). Mr. Le Khac Thuc, the school's principal, said that in the previous exam season, the school's benchmark was more than 11 points, much higher than this year. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school has 630 quotas but the number of candidates registering for the exam is not enough. With the "record low" benchmark score above, the school is still short of nearly 60 quotas.

The principal of Tan Ky High School also expressed concern about entering the new school year with a low entrance score, just over 2 points/subject. “With below average academic performance, it is clear that the quality of students in this course will be much lower than in previous years. After enrollment, the school will classify students, supplement knowledge and have a suitable teaching plan,” Mr. Thuc shared.

This year, Tan Ky High School lacks nearly 60 students even though the standard score is only 7.75 points.

Similarly, at Nguyen Sy Sach High School (formerly Thanh Chuong district), the first round of 10th grade entrance scores was 5.75 for 3 subjects. According to the school leaders, "this is an unprecedentedly low score" but the school still had to recruit the last candidate, because this year the school had 450 targets but only 411 students took the exam.

Many schools have low scores, why?

Statistics show that the admission score for grade 10 in Nghe An in the 2025-2026 school year has decreased compared to last year. In particular, Thai Lao High School's benchmark score is 11.75 points, 7 points lower than the previous school year; Le Hong Phong High School's benchmark score is 10 points, 6.5 points lower; Le Viet Thuat High School's benchmark score is 15.25 points, 6.4 points lower. Or in Tuong Duong district, Tuong Duong 1 High School's benchmark score is only 9 points; Tuong Duong 2 High School's benchmark score is 10.5 points...

The drop in admission scores was also predicted in this year’s admission season when many schools lowered their admission scores. The reason is that this year, the number of students in the whole province decreased by nearly 5,000 students. Meanwhile, the Department of Education and Training still kept the enrollment quota for grade 10 the same as previous years to avoid disrupting the team, affecting the scale of schools and increasing the opportunities for students to enter public grade 10.

This year, the number of students in Nghe An province decreased by nearly 5,000.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Head of Secondary Education Department, Nghe An Department of Education and Training, said that the province has 11 public schools with fewer registered students than the target. However, the exam is still conducted to assess quality and for students to take the exam to get a base score to enter specialized schools or increase their chances of being admitted to other public schools. Therefore, many schools have to take all the students on the list to meet the enrollment target.

Regarding the quality of admission, because the 10th grade exam must be differentiated for schools to consider admission, as a basis for admission to specialized schools and boarding schools, the exam results are not uniform. However, according to statistics of the whole province, this year, the average score of the subjects is quite good. Specifically, the average score of Literature is 7.17; Math is 5.66 and Foreign Language is 5.06. The average score of the whole province is 17.89 points.

Thu Hien

Source: https://tienphong.vn/soc-toan-tap-ly-do-diem-chuan-lop-10-o-nghe-an-thap-chua-tung-co-post1757803.tpo