Nghe An: Will the benchmark scores and entrance exam subjects for grade 10 be reduced?

The benchmark difference is quite large.

In terms of competitiveness, public high schools in Vinh city are always at the top because the city has a large number of students but only has 3 public schools. Therefore, the number of students registering is always higher than the set target.

At Ha Huy Tap High School, this year, according to the number of applications, only 63% of students taking the exam will be admitted. With this rate, out of 860 students applying to the school, about 300 will fail - a fairly high rate.

Commenting on the upcoming 10th grade exam, teacher Hoang Minh Luong - Principal of the school said: "Compared to previous years, this rate is not much different, although this year the school's enrollment target is less than previous years."

Grade 9 students are under pressure when they have to take too many exams in the grade 10 entrance exam. Photo: MH

The school principal also confirmed: "This year, the benchmark score will be lower than previous years because students will no longer be given vocational points (in previous years, students would be given 1.5 to 2 points). However, to be admitted, students must have certain abilities. Like last school year, the admission score to the school was 33.4 points. So, on average, a student must score nearly 6.5 points. For students who want to pass their second choice, it must be higher because the school requires 35.4 points and this is a fairly high score that not many students who register for NV2 can achieve. In fact, in previous years, although the school set a quota for NV2 of 10-15%, it only recruited about 3%."

At Huynh Thuc Khang High School, after the school announced the admission rate, there were 3 more applications to the school (including 2 applications transferred from Ha Huy Tap High School and 1 application transferred from Hanoi).

Analyzing the chances of candidates being admitted this year, Mr. Cao Thanh Bao - Principal of the school said: “Although students are quite hesitant when applying to the school, I personally think that they should not be too worried. Firstly, this year, there are less than 180 applications submitted to the school, so the admission rate is higher than every year. Besides, like every year, many students apply to Huynh Thuc Khang but then they go to specialized schools. Therefore, the chances for them to stay are very high.”

Nghi Loc candidates attend the 10th grade entrance exam. Photo: MH

At this time, teacher Cao Thanh Bao has not yet predicted the benchmark score, but according to him, the admission score will depend a lot on the combined subject. Because "if before, the three subjects of Literature - Math - English were tested, the city's students achieved very high English scores. But after the first year of the combined test, the students' scores were very different. Therefore, if any student did well on the combined test, they would have a great advantage". Previously, in the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2018-2019 school year, the final benchmark score of Huynh Thuc Khang School was 38.2 points - the highest score among all high schools.

In the remaining schools, the benchmark will not be too high because the admission rate of the schools is usually from 70 - 80%. Predicting the benchmark, teacher Dang Dinh Ky - Principal of Nghi Loc 5 High School said: "Last year, we set the benchmark at 16 points and students only needed to achieve an average score to be able to enter the school. This year, the benchmark is expected to be higher because the students' academic performance is quite good, but the difference is not much because only about 12% of students applying to the school were not admitted."

Besides, there are schools that may have to accept very low scores because the number of applications is not more than the proposed quota such as Thai Hoa High School (420 quota/422 applications), Tuong Duong 2 High School (210/217), Yen Thanh 3 High School (378/391)...

Subjects will be reduced in the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2019-2020 school year

One of the innovations of this year's 10th grade entrance exam is that the Department of Education and Training agreed to a plan to have a common exam between Vinh University High School for the Gifted and Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Through discussion with teacher Le Xuan Son - Vice Principal of Vinh University High School for the Gifted, he also said: "This year, because Vinh University High School for the Gifted and Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted will have the same exam, the standard score cannot be predicted. However, like previous years, the entrance exam for Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted is often more difficult than that for Vinh University High School for the Gifted, so this year the entrance score may change and be lower than previous years."

English review session of students at Le Mao Secondary School. Photo: MH

At this time, two specialized schools are also accepting applications at the same time. However, to make the right choice, teacher Le Xuan Son also said: "Each school has its own advantages and its own training goals. Therefore, before registering, students need to determine what their goals are and what their abilities are to choose the right school..."

For this year's 10th grade exam, the Department of Education and Training has also been flexible in allowing candidates to change their preferences after schools have announced their exam plans and admission rates. Speaking about this, teacher Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training said: "We allow students to change their preferences until May 25 and students can withdraw their applications from one school to another. However, before making changes, parents need to consider carefully to choose a school that suits their students' abilities."

If the exam plan for the next school year changes, students taking the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted will have their Foreign Language exam reduced. Photo: MH

Regarding the 10th grade entrance exam, the Director of the Department of Education and Training also said: In the next school year (2020-2021), the Department will present a new exam plan, it is expected that students will only have to take 4 subjects. Of which 3 compulsory subjects are Literature - Math - Foreign Language. In addition, the Department will draw 1 more subject from the following subjects: History - Geography - Civic Education, Physics - Chemistry - Biology.

The Foreign Language exam will be taken together with the fourth exam and the foreign language score will account for 75%. This will also be the basis for Phan Boi Chau High School to get the base score, so students do not have to take an additional foreign language exam when taking the entrance exam to a specialized school.