Delegate admissions to universities

Each university has its own admission policy and each admission method has its own value, suitable for the characteristics of a certain group of majors.

On September 26, the Lao Dong Newspaper organized a talk show with the theme: "Innovation in University and College Admissions in 2026". Here, experts and representatives from schools analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the 2025 University and College Admissions. The program discussed and proposed innovative solutions for the 2026 University Admissions season and the following years, aiming for a more transparent, effective and fair admissions system.

Admissions 2025: Many shades of gray

The 2025 university and college entrance exam has basically ended. According to experts and university representatives, this is an admission exam with many gray areas.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh, Director of the Center for Testing and Training Quality Assessment - Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that the 2025 admissions will have many changes, including continuous changes and breakthrough changes. These changes aim to bring transparency and fairness, and convenience to candidates, such as not considering early admissions to help candidates focus more on studying until completing the 12th grade program, and building a common admission system without having to choose an admission method also creates convenience for candidates.

However, the limitations of the admission period are more prominent than the results achieved. That is, there are many changes in a short time leading to passive candidates, the admission system is also not well prepared. "Many changes have not been tested leading to problems, the most prominent of which is the regulation on converting scores between admission methods - this is an unscientific experiment" - Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh frankly said that each admission method has its own characteristics, converting to a common score without careful research makes universities and society confused.

Experts and representatives of universities discussed at the talk show "Innovation in University and College Admissions in 2026" held at the Lao Dong Newspaper. Photo: TAN THANH

The policy changes of the Ministry of Education and Training have had a strong impact on universities. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Thuy, Head of Admissions and Communications Department - Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, said that each method has its own criteria for assessing capacity, so when converting to a common score scale, it causes many difficulties for those working in admissions. For parents and candidates, the score conversion is even more difficult to understand. "The purpose of the changes is very positive, but the implementation time is too fast, so there are some unfortunate incidents," Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Thuy, said.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, Head of Communications Department of International University (VNU-HCM), said that International University is not outside the impact of changes in the 2025 admission period. Therefore, in the admissions consulting process, the school makes great efforts to guide students and parents to understand how to set reasonable wishes and important time milestones. Just one wrong step can cause a domino effect, the worst case scenario is that candidates are unfairly failed to get into university due to not being alert when setting wishes.

Confused with survey questions!

Recently, at the 2025 University Education Conference to review the results of the past year and determine tasks for the coming year, the Ministry of Education and Training distributed a survey on university admissions from 2026 to delegates of more than 200 universities. In particular, with the admission based on high school transcripts, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed two options: to abolish or continue to use. In the survey, the Ministry of Education and Training also asked for opinions on the number of wishes for each candidate. The Ministry proposed three options for schools to give their opinions, including: a maximum of 5, 10 wishes or continuing with an unlimited number of wishes.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh said he was very confused when the Ministry released the above survey. Regarding the review of academic records, although some schools give preferential treatment to students with good academic records to increase competitiveness when participating in the admission process, in general, the academic records are good data for schools to use as a basis for admission because they are the results of 3 years of study. Is the Ministry asking for opinions on removing or using academic records any different from denying the academic records when considering high school graduation, up to 50% of the score comes from the academic records? "The academic records are the result of 3 years of study while the results of the high school graduation exam are only the result of a few hours of work, it is very difficult to understand why the Ministry of Education and Training released this survey" - Dr. Chinh wondered.

Regarding the number of wishes, the Ministry of Education and Training is asking for opinions on whether to limit the number of wishes to 5 or 10 or not as it is now. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh said that the fact that candidates have to register many wishes reflects the instability of the policy. The number of wishes does not affect the admission process, when the policy is stable, the number of wishes will not be many. "I regret that when the Ministry of Education and Training asked for opinions on 5-10 wishes or not, because that affects the rights of candidates" - Mr. Chinh expressed his opinion.

Issue admission regulations as soon as possible.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training’s request, universities must complete their 2026 enrollment plans by October 2025 to announce them to candidates early. However, the schools said they are waiting for the ministry to issue the 2026 enrollment regulations before they can “release” their own plans.

Ms. Duong Thi Kim Phuong, Director of the Admissions Consulting Center of Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, said that every year, the school really wants to build an early admission plan to announce it to candidates so that they can grasp and prepare well, but before the Ministry of Education and Training announces the regulations, the admission plans are only drafts and will change when the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training change. "Announcing admission information and then having to change it will make it difficult for candidates," Ms. Phuong said.

In fact, every year, the Ministry of Education and Training always asks schools to announce their enrollment plans early so that candidates and parents can be clear, but the ministry is always slow in announcing the regulations, such as in 2025. It was not until the end of March that the ministry announced the regulations with many changes.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh said that the urgent requirement now is that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to issue the University Admission Regulations as soon as possible. Only when there is an official legal framework from the Ministry, will universities have the basis to develop and announce detailed admission plans, providing information to candidates in the most complete and timely manner.

In addition, to enhance the autonomy of universities and reduce the administrative burden in admissions, it is necessary to review some regulations. Experts and representatives of universities proposed to remove the rule of converting equivalent scores. "If the conversion of equivalent scores is still applied, I am sure that admissions will continue to face many difficulties" - Dr. Chinh commented.

In addition, concentrating the entire admission process at a single time is creating unnecessary overload pressure on the entire system, schools, candidates and parents.

Experts say it is time to look at reality, each university has its own admission policy and each admission method has its own value, suitable for the characteristics of certain groups of majors, there is no need to abandon the admission method early.

The management agency should give the university full decision-making power. For example, early admission is also a good method to help the university select suitable students, aiming at effective and quality enrollment for each training program.

Maintain stability of the competency assessment exam

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh said that the competency assessment exam by Ho Chi Minh City National University has undergone a major adjustment to match the 2018 General Education program. In 2026, the exam will remain stable as in 2025.

Evaluating the competency assessment exams organized by universities, Mr. Chinh said that these exams provide appropriate scales for admission. In 2025, the competency assessment exams are being implemented well, as expected. For example, in the competency assessment exam organized by Ho Chi Minh City National University, member schools of Ho Chi Minh City National University recruited over 40% of the total target. This shows that candidates are increasingly confident in this exam.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/trao-quyen-tuyen-sinh-cho-truong-dai-hoc-196250926213227071.htm