Many candidates were pleased because the math exam had a high level of differentiation.

The exam is highly differentiated.

Ngo Quang Thang, a student from Viet Thuat High School (Vinh City), is placing Hanoi University of Architecture as his first choice. Therefore, in addition to the aptitude test, Mathematics and Physics will be the subjects he will consider for university admission.

Having prepared quite thoroughly, after completing the 90-minute exam, this candidate said: "The math exam consisted of 50 questions, including 10 questions designed to differentiate candidates. I myself have completed up to question 43 and hope to get 8.6 points. This is also the goal I set for myself in this exam."

Given the nature of a "2-in-1" exam, Ngo Quyet Thang also said that he liked the highly differentiating nature of this year's exam, because "if the exam were easy, many other candidates would also get high scores and push up the baseline score." In the remaining decisive subject tomorrow, he also hopes the exam will not be too easy so that good and excellent students have the opportunity to showcase their abilities.

At the exam center at Le Viet Thuat High School, candidate Phan Thi Ngoc Mai said, "I think I scored around 8+ and I'm quite satisfied with this year's exam because it was manageable, closely followed the exam structure, and had a high level of differentiation. The difficult questions focused on areas such as finding the maximum and minimum values, and different types of equations."

Previously, having won first prize in the provincial-level Literature competition for gifted students, this candidate applied early and was admitted to the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. However, the candidate stated that they will do their best to perform well in the remaining subjects to have a chance to apply to the Academy of Journalism and Communication or the National Economics University in Hanoi.

Many candidates "ran out of steam" and guessed randomly.

The cool weather continued to favor candidates in Nghia Dan district during the second exam. Stepping out of the exam room, candidate Nguyen Phuong Thao from Co Do High School commented that the Math exam was not tricky and closely matched the sample exam released by the Ministry of Education and Training. She started with the questions at the knowledge and comprehension levels, which required quick answers, and reserved the remaining time for the application and higher-level application questions to earn points.

Although I'm fairly good at math, I still struggled with the last 10 questions when I started working on the exam. Many of them required me to apply multiple formulas and solve problems in several steps to find the correct answer. With this exam, Thảo hopes to achieve around 8-8.5 points.

After completing the Math exam and leaving the examination area, many candidates in Anh Son district said that the exam questions closely followed the curriculum and had a clear differentiation in difficulty levels.

Stepping out of the exam room in a cheerful mood, Phuc Tien Dat, at the Anh Son 1 High School exam center, said: "The first 40 questions were familiar types of problems that we had practiced extensively during our studies. From question 41 onwards, there was a greater level of difficulty, requiring students to have a solid grasp of the knowledge to be able to answer them. I'm not too worried about the results in Math because it's my strong subject."

Tran Vinh Tu, a student at the Anh Son 3 High School exam center, shared: "We were familiar with the structure of this year's Math exam through the mock tests. The exam consisted of 50 multiple-choice questions. I answered the first 40 very quickly, and the next 10 questions started to increase in difficulty. However, the exam wasn't tricky; it was still within the curriculum that my teachers had taught and reviewed at school. I found the exam quite manageable. I finished about 10 minutes early, and with this result, I hope to get 8 points in Math."

At the exam center at Quy Hop High School, many candidates stated that the Math exam was difficult, especially for students who are not math specialists. The exam consisted of 50 questions, with the difficulty starting from question 36. Vi Khanh Truong, a math specialist at Quy Hop High School, commented, “The exam clearly differentiated candidates, with the first 36 questions designed for graduation and the last 14 questions for differentiating scores. I'm applying to the Police Academy (A00 group) and I think I'll get around 8-8.4 points.”

Candidate Vo Thi Quynh Nga, from class 12A1 of Quy Hop High School, said: "This year's exam was difficult for us, quite different from the structure we studied. I did well on the first 40 questions, but the later questions required applying a lot of knowledge to answer. I'm applying to the Banking Academy and I think I only scored 7-8 points."

After the Math exam, Lo Thi Le, a student from Con Cuong High School, shared: “The exam had a fairly high level of differentiation. I was able to calculate and solve the first few multiple-choice questions. However, I wasn't very good at the last few questions. Overall, if I had the correct answers in the exam, I think I got about 55% right, probably not less than 5 points.”

Meanwhile, Luong Thi Hoa, a student from Con Cuong High School, shared: "This year's math exam required me to skip more than 15 difficult questions because I couldn't figure out the answers no matter how hard I tried. I hope to get a 5."

Present at this examination site, a math teacher from Con Cuong High School said: "This year's exam is generally suitable for students' abilities, ensuring it's 'sufficient' for students only aiming for graduation. Some questions are more difficult than the 2023 exam, aiming to differentiate students, and are entirely justified and meet the admission requirements of universities and colleges."

At the exam center at Dang Thuc Hua High School in Vo Liet commune (Thanh Chuong district), after the second exam session ended, the students emerged with mixed feelings. Le Thi My Duyen, a student in class 12D, said: "For me, the math exam was of moderate difficulty, with some questions designed to 'trick' me. Out of 50 questions, I'm only certain I answered about 25 correctly; for the rest, I marked them based on preference, without being sure whether they were right or wrong. I predict my score will be around 5 or 6 points."

Unlike the cheerful and excited faces of the students in Do Luong this morning after completing the Literature exam, after the Math exam this afternoon, the candidates left the exam room with mixed emotions. Most candidates felt that this year's Math exam was quite a bit more difficult than in previous years. Tran Van Tung, a 12th-grade student from the Do Luong Continuing Education Center, said: “I found the exam a bit difficult, the last 10 to 15 questions were very challenging. Thanks to thorough preparation, I was able to do well; I answered 40 questions correctly.”

Sharing the same opinion, Tran Hai Dang, a student in class 12T3 at Do Luong 1 High School, said: “The math exam this afternoon was more difficult than in previous years. Students who could answer up to questions 37, 38, and 39 showed good academic ability, while those with slightly better abilities could answer up to question 45. As for me, I managed to answer up to question 42 and expect to get 8.5 points.”