Ho Chi Minh City has officially removed commune- and ward-level administrative boundaries from its enrollment process for first and sixth-grade students. Priority will now be given based on students’ “current place of residence,” helping them attend schools near home.

“Current residence” becomes top enrollment priority

Following a directive from the HCMC People’s Committee, district-level education authorities are tasked with creating flexible enrollment plans based on three factors: school distribution in each locality, the number of children eligible for enrollment, and “current residence” data extracted from the education sector’s centralized database. The city will use GIS-based digital mapping to calculate student commuting distances - rather than relying on administrative borders - to ensure convenience and localized schooling.

For schools located on administrative borders, enrollment steering committees will propose appropriate plans to prioritize proximity for all students.

Enrollment registration will be processed online via https://tuyensinhdaucap.hcm.edu.vn using unique identification codes. All student data will be automatically retrieved from the education system’s database.

Each district’s enrollment steering committee will define specific priority groups to ensure legal clarity during student classification. There are two main categories of applicants. For Grade 1, Group 1 includes students living within the school’s area and of eligible age. For Grade 6, Group 1 includes students living in the area who have completed primary school. Group 2 consists of students applying to schools outside their actual area of residence.

Special consideration will be given to students in certain situations: those who completed preschool or primary school in the area; students whose parents work locally (especially in industrial zones, public agencies, or organizations); students with current residence verified by VNEID in boundary areas between districts; transferred students; or those with unique local circumstances.

Enrollment and testing at popular Grade 6 schools

Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School, along with some local middle schools, will combine academic records from primary school with results from entrance aptitude assessments.

To qualify for such dual-criteria enrollment, schools must meet two conditions: consistently higher application numbers than quotas in recent years and official recommendation by the Thu Duc City or district-level People's Committees to the Department of Education and Training (DOET).

Other secondary schools will admit students based solely on their primary school performance, supported by GIS mapping data for student allocation. The student recruitment zones for each school will be determined by local authorities based on real conditions.

Each school’s Grade 6 enrollment quota will depend on local realities, including facilities, teacher availability, and residential demographics, as advised by district DOETs.

Nam Sai Gon Primary-Secondary-High School will operate under its own enrollment plan but will still be required to register through the city’s official system, comply with the DOET’s regulations, and follow the overall citywide enrollment timeline.

Some schools expected to conduct aptitude assessments for Grade 6 include Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School, Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School, Hoa Lu Secondary School, and Binh Tho Secondary School.

For the first time, two specialized high schools open enrollment nationwide

For the first time, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted will open its enrollment nationwide - following in the footsteps of Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted.

According to Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Staff of the HCMC DOET, this move is designed to make it easier for parents to manage school commutes and to increase student intake in areas with low enrollment due to regional demographics.

Furthermore, these schools are equipped with modern facilities that support large-scale specialized education programs. This initiative is also part of HCMC’s strategy to attract and nurture exceptional talent and to build a high-quality workforce for both the city and the country.

Le Huyen