Ninth-grade students in Nghe An province are rushing to prepare for the 10th-grade entrance exam.

Getting started for the 10th grade entrance exam.

Last weekend, approximately 500 ninth-grade students from Ha Huy Tap Secondary School in Vinh City participated in a mock entrance exam for tenth grade, covering three subjects: Literature, Mathematics, and Foreign Language. The exam questions and organization were basically the same as the official exam.

Although this was only a mock exam, before the exam, homeroom teachers reminded students to review thoroughly and maintain a relaxed mindset to achieve the best possible results. Regarding this exam, Ms. Ha Le Hoa Binh – the school principal – said: This is the first mock exam organized this school year for graduating students with two purposes: firstly, to assess student performance and guide effective revision; and secondly, to gradually guide students towards appropriate high school pathways.

Ninth-grade students' class time at Ha Huy Tap Secondary School. Photo: MH

Mock exams are also one of the methods that Ha Huy Tap Secondary School has been using for many years before the entrance exam for grade 10. However, depending on the year and the group of students, the number of mock exams organized will vary.

Through mock exams, the school will also categorize students into four groups. Group 1 is for students with the potential to enter top-tier schools, including specialized high schools and Huynh Thuc Khang High School. Group 2 will be for students with the potential to pass the entrance exams for public schools such as Ha Huy Tap High School and Le Viet Thuat High School. Groups 3 and 4 are for the remaining students. Starting in April, after afternoon tutoring sessions, teachers will stay to provide additional support and reinforcement to these students so they can successfully complete the 10th grade entrance exam.

The final two months of the school year put a lot of pressure on graduating high school students regarding the entrance exam for 10th grade. Photo: MH

Before organizing the mock exam, the school administration of Ha Huy Tap Secondary School also requested the subject departments to meet and analyze the structure of the sample exam recently issued by the Department of Education and Training. Based on that, they developed exam questions that closely followed the Department's guidelines for exam design, adhering to the four levels of cognitive ability: knowledge, comprehension, application, and advanced application.

Le Hong Phong Secondary School (Hung Nguyen) is also accelerating review sessions in the afternoons, with plans to hold the first mock exam for all 9th-grade students at the end of this month. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, the school's Vice Principal, due to the unique nature of Le Hong Phong Secondary School as a gifted school in the district, the entrance requirements are very high.10th gradeThe number of students in our school is quite high: Besides applying to the top-ranked public schools in the district, many of our students will also apply to specialized schools and some public schools in Vinh. Therefore, currently, every afternoon we have students practice with exam questions and have asked the subject departments to create exam papers that closely match the structure of the sample exam provided by the Department of Education. For students applying to specialized schools, in addition to advanced questions, we create more advanced questions to help them become familiar with various types of exercises.

In addition to mock exams organized by individual schools, it is expected that from now until the end of May, the Departments of Education and Training will also organize inter-school mock exams with questions prepared by the respective departments.

Previously, starting in late March, the Education and Training Department of Thai Hoa town was one of the first units to organize mock exams for all more than 900 ninth-grade students in the town. After grading the students' papers, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Mai, Deputy Head of the Education and Training Department of Thai Hoa town, stated:In the first mock exam, due to the limited time the students had to prepare, the results were not very high. However, between now and the actual 10th grade exam, we plan to hold two more mock exams, and based on previous years' results, the scores from the final mock exam will be very close to the actual exam scores.

High school seniors are practicing for their English exam. Photo: MH

To prepare for mock exams and build a question bank for the district, the Education and Training Department of the town invited core professional staff in Mathematics, Literature, and English to develop exam matrices, closely following the structure of the Department's exams. In addition, after the exam results were released, these core teachers collaborated with teachers from various schools to develop review plans tailored to the students' needs and curriculum, and shared their experiences in teaching and reviewing. The Department also requested that schools cooperate with parents to support their children during the final exams.

Practice test services are developing.

Besides taking mock exams at school, students can also participate in mock exams at many centers that offer tutoring and supplementary classes. At a math skills training center for students on Nguyen Xi Street in Vinh City, a mock exam held in early April was attended by nearly 200 students studying at the center, as well as some students from other schools, completely free of charge.

Through this exam, the center will also reassess each student's abilities and promptly supplement any knowledge gaps they may have. Ms. Pham Thi Lien, Director of the Center, stated: "For the first mock exam in Mathematics, we designed the questions based on the previous year's exam structure. For the second mock exam, we closely followed the exam structure recently announced by the Department of Education and Training. The center pays close attention to the exam design to ensure it aligns with the curriculum and the scoring scale, allowing students and parents to accurately assess their abilities."

Students in Vinh City participate in a mock entrance exam for 10th grade. Photo: MH

As someone with many years of experience tutoring high school seniors, teacher Pham Thi Lien also believes that the structure of the Math exam has some new features, such as the addition of a question on spatial geometry (0.5 points), and the knowledge of first and second-degree functions is narrowed down, making it easier for students to review. In the Math questions, teachers also pay more attention to practical questions and identify problems that students often get wrong to help them practice their problem-solving skills. In English, many teachers also said that the sample exam structure includes an additional reading comprehension passage. However, what teachers hope is that this passage will not be too difficult so that students can easily score points, addressing the current situation of low English scores.

Regarding the implementation of mock exams, many teachers believe this is necessary because it serves as a practice run to help students develop basic test-taking skills, especially psychologically, systematize their knowledge, and become familiar with the exam environment. Furthermore, when students take the exam alongside their peers, classmates, and schoolmates, parents and students will have a more objective perspective, rather than just seeing the students' own abilities.

Understanding this mindset, many centers in Vinh City and some centers in the districts have recently organized mock exams for students, charging a fee of 30,000 to 50,000 VND.The exam had an overwhelming number of registered students.

Ninth grade students' class time - Le Hong Phong Secondary School - Hung Nguyen. Photo: MH

However, upon investigation, many experienced teachers believe that students should seek out reputable centers that create responsible exam questions that closely follow the curriculum and exam structure. Conversely, if the questions are too easy or incomplete according to the industry's guidelines, it will lead to inaccurate assessment of students' abilities and create a sense of complacency.

Previously, from the end of the first semester, the LMS system of the Department of Education and Training was also opened to allow 9th-grade students to try out dozens of exam papers developed by core teachers of the department and schools. Currently, the Department is continuing to build the exam question bank based on the newly issued structure and expects that around the beginning of May, the system will be opened again for students to practice with exam papers and self-assess their abilities.

This is also the time when 9th-grade students complete their curriculum, and the results they achieve will serve as the basis for them to apply for admission to 10th grade, ensuring that their applications match their abilities and aspirations.