Deputy Minister of Education: "The 2025 high school graduation exam is very comprehensive"

(Dan Tri) - "The score distribution and test results show that the test is very comprehensive, recognized and evaluated by society. The truth is the final result."

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong speaks at the summary conference on the afternoon of September 26 (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong made this statement at the conference to review the organization of the 2025 high school graduation exam and prepare for the 2026 high school graduation exam held in Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of September 26.

Mr. Thuong said that initially, public opinion thought that the math and English exams were difficult, but the results proved everything. The results demonstrated the sense of responsibility, intelligence and challenge of the teachers who created and prepared the exams.

The test is not "tricky"

According to the report of the Ministry of Education and Training, the math and English exam questions are completely suitable for the purpose of the exam, unlike emotional speculation.

This is shown in the English score distribution which no longer has two peaks like in previous years; the slope is divided equally on both sides showing the even spread of scores; the average score is 5.38. The number of candidates who scored 10 is 141.

In math, the score distribution is very nice, naturally distributed from low to high, not concentrated around 8-9 points like some previous years.

“More importantly, although many people complained that the exam was difficult, there were still more than 500 scores of 10 in math nationwide. This shows that the exam was not a “puzzle” but only differentiated and selected the truly good students,” the report stated.

The Ministry of Education and Training shared that through analyzing the results of the subjects, it shows that in many subjects such as literature, math, chemistry, physics, biology, etc., the exam questions no longer focus on memorizing sample situations, but require students to understand the nature, apply knowledge to reality, explain phenomena or solve given situations.

According to experts and society's assessment, the exam questions/subjects closely follow the 2018 General Education Program, following the announced exam format structure.

The score distribution of all subjects has appropriate differentiation to ensure the goals of considering and recognizing high school graduation; assessing the quality of teaching and learning in schools, localities and the direction of educational management agencies.

Candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam (Photo: Bao Quyen).

According to the Ministry, the assessment of the suitability of the exam is clearly shown in the high school graduation assessment for students, which is calculated and adjusted appropriately by the Ministry of Education and Training, creating maximum conditions such as: Calculating the graduation score is only 50% of the graduation exam score, the remaining 50% is calculated from the 3-year high school study process.

“High school diplomas are not classified as excellent, good, or average as before, which helps reduce pressure during the learning and exam process. Thus, students from all regions who have studied seriously during their 3 years of high school do not have to worry about exams and graduation,” said the Ministry of Education and Training.

Along with that, the reduction in the number of graduation exams (from 6 to 4) not only contributes to reducing exam pressure but is also related to career orientation.

Students and teachers need to adapt

The Ministry of Education and Training said the adjustment in the exam questions is an opportunity for students to change their approach from learning by coping and practicing tricks, to learning by understanding the nature, practicing thinking and problem-solving skills, which is a sustainable foundation to help students develop long-term in their learning journey.

Therefore, it is understandable that students and teachers need to learn more deeply, even with more advanced topics to be able to solve some questions at the applied thinking level. The Ministry believes that students and teachers need to get used to and adjust their learning and teaching methods in the coming school years.

These knowledge bases also help students continue their studies at higher levels.

Candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam (Photo: Hai Long).

On the other hand, in the rapid development of the 4.0 industrial revolution, to solve big problems in strategic technology, it is necessary to teach students how to solve problems; face different problems in practice that they have to make efforts and try their best; aim for a real learning environment, real exams, real talents, even if they are still confused at first.

Although the exam is assessed as “extremely comprehensive”, the Ministry still needs to use testing methods to ensure fairness in admissions to accurately reflect the actual abilities of candidates, eliminate the impact of differences in difficulty between exam subjects; and at the same time ensure more consistency and efficiency between exam results and university admissions from 2025.

12,000 candidates participated in the test test

The Ministry of Education and Training said that 2025 will be the first year to build an open exam library suitable for the method of one program with many textbooks.

The Ministry has deployed 3 training sessions for teachers nationwide on test question development in phases: December 2023, April 2024, February 2025.

The total number of teachers trained is 8,800. At the end of each session, each teacher submits one exam to contribute to the exam question library.

According to the Ministry, this has mobilized the collective intelligence of the entire industry; at the same time, reduced construction costs compared to before.

The Ministry of Education and Training developed test questions and conducted testing to evaluate students nationwide, with more than 12,000 students taking the test on computers.

Including specialized students, high quality classes, average classes and regular education students.

The 2025 high school graduation exam has been tested with 12,000 candidates from the following provinces: Ha Tinh, Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Hai Phong (old), Bac Ninh (old), Ninh Binh (old), Gia Lai (old), Ho Chi Minh City (old), Tien Giang (old); Ha Giang (old).

“The test results have been carefully analyzed using modern testing theory and are one of the important bases for the council to create reference test questions to determine the level of the test to ensure differentiation and meet the requirements of Resolution 29,” said the Ministry of Education and Training.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/thu-truong-bo-giao-duc-de-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-2025-het-suc-toan-dien-20250926150815575.htm