Admission based on academic records: Keep or abandon?

TP - The Ministry of Education and Training has officially sought opinions from universities on the method of considering high school transcripts for admission. Recently, this method has received mixed opinions and top universities have refused to use it.

Many schools have said no.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, University of Technology (Hanoi National University) frankly admitted that for many years, the results of assessment based on transcripts have always been higher than the results of the high school graduation exam. The situation of being lenient and lenient in assessment based on transcripts still exists, the rate of good and excellent students is often quite high. When compared with the results of the high school graduation exam, there is a huge difference. There are cases where the assessment based on transcripts is all 9.6; 9.7 but the high school graduation exam scores are very low. The danger is that when it comes to a scale of 1, these cases have very high conversion scores. Therefore, control to improve input quality and the state management role of the Ministry of Education and Training is necessary and Prof. Duc supports the abolition of the method of considering transcripts for admission from 2026.

Dr. Van Huu Quang Nhat, Head of the Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation, Pacific University, agrees with the plan to eliminate the consideration of high school transcripts in university admissions from next year. According to him, there are many suitable options for university admissions such as the results of the general capacity assessment exam, and schools organizing their own admission exams. Therefore, eliminating one option is not a difficult problem.

Dr. Nhat analyzed that the downside of the admission method based on academic records makes parents and students increase their achievement problems throughout high school. This is also the reason why extra classes, chasing grades, and chasing schools become popular, causing costs to society. "Academic records only show the financial resources of parents and the relationship between parents and teachers of subjects in high school. Academic records do not properly assess students' abilities," said Mr. Nhat.

In 2025, many universities will completely stop considering high school transcripts, or reduce the admission quota by this method. Hanoi University of Education will stop considering two methods: considering high school transcripts and considering a combination of aptitude test scores with transcript scores, graduation exam scores or competency assessment scores. Transcript scores are only a separate admission condition for pedagogical majors at the school. Before 2022, Hanoi University of Science and Technology used transcript scores as a condition for admission using high school graduation exam scores and thinking assessment. However, in the past 3 years, the school has dropped this requirement. Hanoi University of Science and Technology does not consider transcript results.

Candidates taking the 2025 high school graduation exam. Photo: Nhu Y

The National Economics University has also abandoned the method of considering academic records for admission. The reason given by the school is that over the years, the school has realized that most of the excellent students in specialized schools are qualified for admission by international certificates or individual exam scores. Therefore, eliminating the consideration of academic records will reduce the false rate.

Since the abolition of the 3 common exams (in 2015), Hanoi Medical University has “said no” to admission based on transcripts because of concerns about unfairness for candidates (because the testing standards and scoring in each high school are different). Some universities have also abandoned the independent consideration of high school transcripts, instead, using them in combination with other conditions and criteria for admission.

Controversial method

At the 2025 university education conference recently held by the Ministry of Education and Training, the Department of Higher Education sent out a survey on university and college admission methods in 2026. The survey was conducted at more than 500 universities and colleges nationwide. In the survey, the Ministry of Education and Training asked for schools' opinions on whether to remove or keep the admission method based on academic records.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tien Thao, Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said that in 2025, with 17 admission methods, the method of considering academic records accounts for over 42% of admitted candidates (the highest), the method of considering graduation exam results is over 39%, the remaining 15 methods account for 18.5%. The Ministry of Education and Training finds that the admission method based on academic records is no longer suitable.

According to the reporter's investigation, this year is the first year that the rate of candidates admitted by using academic records exceeds the rate of candidates admitted by using high school graduation exam results. In 2024, considering high school graduation exam results accounts for over 52%; considering academic records accounts for nearly 28%. In 2023, considering high school graduation exam results accounts for over 49%. Next is the method of considering academic records, over 30%.

The correlation between the high school graduation exam results and the student transcript scores nationwide announced by the Ministry of Education and Training shows that the average transcript score is 0.12-2.26 points higher than the 2025 high school graduation exam score. Literature has the smallest difference, about 0.12 points. The largest difference is in Industrial Technology, at 2.26 points. Next is Math with a difference of 2.25 points. English, when the average high school graduation exam score is 1.57 points lower than the transcript.

Thus, in the past 3 years, the rate of candidates admitted by using the transcript method has increased. It is worth mentioning that this year, when converting to 1 scale in a university, the difference in scores between the 2 methods of considering graduation exam results and transcripts is very clear. For example, the benchmark score of the University of Mining and Geology for the transcript method is 1-3 points higher than the method of considering graduation exam results depending on the major. At Tay Bac University, with majors other than pedagogy, there are 6 majors with a difference of up to 6 points, such as Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine, Forestry, Plant Protection..., the benchmark score for considering high school graduation results is 15/30 points but the benchmark score for considering transcripts is 21/30 points.

Thus, although the rate of using the transcript review method is high, this is a controversial method.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/xet-tuyen-hoc-ba-bo-hay-giu-post1780374.tpo