Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) expects nearly 20 different university admission methods to be applied in 2025. However, the ministry advises institutions not to adopt an excessive number of methods, which could confuse applicants.

In a draft guide for university and college admissions, the ministry released a list of official admission methods, identified by code, as follows:

100 – Admission based on results of the national high school graduation exam

200 – Admission based on high school academic records (transcripts)

301 – Direct admission according to regulations stated in Article 8 of the Admissions Policy

401 – Admission based on aptitude or competency tests organized by the training institution

402 – Admission based on results of aptitude or competency tests organized by external units

403 – Admission based on academic exams organized by the institution itself

404 – Admission based on academic exam results from other institutions

405 – Combination of high school graduation exam results and aptitude test scores

406 – Combination of high school transcripts and aptitude test scores

407 – Combination of high school graduation exam results and high school transcripts

409 – Combination of high school graduation exam results and international certificates

410 – Combination of high school transcripts and international certificates

411 – Admission for students graduating from foreign high schools

413 – Combination of high school graduation exam results and interview

414 – Combination of high school transcripts and interview

415 – Admission based on SAT or other eligible international certificates

500 – Other admission methods

Earlier, MOET released statistics on admission results for 2024 by method. Analysis revealed that over 80% of successful candidates were admitted via national high school graduation exam results and high school transcripts. Of these, more than 52% were admitted through graduation exam scores, while nearly 28% gained admission via academic records.

The remaining candidates were admitted through competency or aptitude tests (3.36%); a combination of direct admission through institutional plans (1.96%); and other methods across 12 different admission approaches (13.33%).

A representative from MOET emphasized that the use of too many admission methods can create information overload for applicants. In reality, some methods receive few or no applicants, making them inefficient.

Given this, the ministry recommends that universities reconsider and eliminate ineffective methods. It also urges institutions to ensure fairness across admission methods by avoiding separate quotas for each method or subject combination and by using equivalent scoring systems to determine eligibility.

Thuy Nga