The English exam in Nghe An was "manageable," with high expectations for scores of 9 and 10.
After 60 minutes of testing, this afternoon, candidates completed the English exam – the second subject of the 2026-2027 10th grade entrance exam. Many candidates assessed this year's English exam as "moderately difficult" and "easier than the mock exam." With this exam, it is expected that scores of 9 or 10 will not be uncommon.
There will be many 9s and 10s in English.
After completing the exam in subject tEnglishDuring the 10th grade entrance exam, many candidates at the Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted exam center left the exam room in a fairly relaxed mood. More than 80% of the candidates surveyed said that with this year's exam, achieving a score above 8.5 and a score of 9 was not too difficult.
As the first candidate to leave the exam center at Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School, Le Cong Minh, a student from Phuong Hoang High-Quality High School, said he was quite satisfied with his performance. According to Minh, this year's exam had a familiar structure, was at an appropriate level for students with above-average and excellent academic abilities, and the time allotted was relatively comfortable. "I finished the exam in about 35 minutes and predict I can get around 9.5 points," Cong Minh added.
However, this male student believes that the exam still contains questions designed to differentiate students and ensure they can achieve a perfect score of 10. Specifically, Minh was still unsure about two vocabulary-related questions involving the words "certificate" and "restore." According to him, these types of questions require students to have a solid vocabulary and good contextual understanding to choose the correct answer.
Also taking the exam at this testing center, Kim Ngan (Truong Thi Secondary School) said that this year's exam was relatively manageable, with a familiar structure and closely aligned with the review material, so she felt she could complete about 90% of the questions. Meanwhile, Minh Nhat (Vinh Tan Secondary School) assessed the exam as "decent," not too difficult, with ample time to complete it, and many questions were familiar practical exercises.
According to the candidates, most of the questions in the exam were within the capabilities of above-average and excellent students. In particular, the fill-in-the-blank section was a "scoring" point because it closely followed the question format they had practiced extensively before the exam. "I finished the exam in just over 30 minutes and still had plenty of time to review my answers," added Nhat.
In the differentiating questions, students indicated that the synonym and antonym section was the most difficult due to the appearance of some new vocabulary or words outside the familiar scope of their review. For these questions, many students chose answers based on intuition. Additionally, some candidates also expressed concern about the fill-in-the-blank section, as it required a relatively strong vocabulary and contextual reasoning ability.
The exam is appropriate for students in disadvantaged areas.
On the afternoon of May 25th, candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam at testing centers in Thai Hoa ward completed the English exam, which was in multiple-choice format and lasted 60 minutes. The exam consisted of 40 questions, focusing on familiar question types such as phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, synonyms and antonyms, reading comprehension, fill-in-the-blanks, arranging dialogues, and rewriting sentences.
According to many candidates, this year's exam closely followed the 2018 General Education Program, with most questions at an appropriate level and not many tricky ones. The questions were mainly from the 9th grade curriculum, making it easy for students to access and apply the knowledge they had reviewed.
However, from around question 35 onwards, the difficulty of the test increases with reading comprehension, matching paragraphs, and choosing words appropriate to the context, requiring students to have a good vocabulary and problem-solving skills.
Le Quoc Quan (a student from Hai Hoa 2 Secondary School) said: “The exam was generally manageable, and I answered quite a few questions correctly. However, from question 35 onwards, it became more difficult; I had to reason and read carefully to choose the correct answer.”
Ms. Le Thi Thuy Hang, an English teacher at Hoa Hieu 1 Secondary School, commented: “The exam ensured coverage of key knowledge points, aligning with the objectives of the 10th grade entrance exam. Most students were able to complete the exam, while the final questions helped assess the application skills of above-average and excellent students.”
In Quy Hop commune, candidate Lang Van Phap (Chau Quang Secondary School), taking the exam at Quy Hop High School, shared: “Out of 40 multiple-choice questions, I was able to answer about 30 on my own. For the remaining 10, I chose answers based on intuition because the section on applying irregular verbs was difficult. However, I might have gotten a few questions wrong on the ones I answered correctly. I think I'll get around 5 points.”
Luong Thanh, a classmate of Phap's, also said that the exam wasn't too difficult, with a basic structure similar to last year, differing only in some idiomatic phrases. "With my average to above-average academic ability, I think I can do about 50% of the questions," Thanh said.
At the end of the second exam, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan, Chief of the Office of the Department of Education and Training, stated that 56 candidates were absent without explanation. No other unusual incidents occurred during the exam. The exam proceeded normally, safely, and in accordance with regulations.
