Equivalent conversion of admission scores: Fair to all candidates

Educational institutions need to convert the equivalent admission scores of the methods and subject combinations used for admission to each program, major, and group of majors. This is one of the new proposals of the Ministry of Education and Training that is widely soliciting opinions and receiving many unanimous opinions.

The time when 30 points still failed the university entrance exam

A representative of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said that the draft amendments and supplements to the Circular on the Regulations on university and college admissions for Early Childhood Education (Draft) are in the final stages of the legal document drafting process; expected to be issued in March 2025. The draft proposes that the admission scores and admission methods and subject combinations used for admission must be converted to a common, unified scale for each training program, industry, and group of industries.

Not having the outstanding ability to participate in early admission, Ms. Le Thi Quy in Yen Hoa (Cau Giay, Hanoi) encouraged her son Tran Quy Kien to concentrate on studying for the high school graduation exam to achieve the best results and use this exam score to register for university admission.

“In previous years, my child might have lost the chance to be admitted because the number of early-admission candidates almost filled the quota. The quota for candidates applying for admission based on high school graduation exam scores is still small, so the family is “restless”,” Ms. Quy confided, saying that she had experienced this situation when her eldest daughter took the university entrance exam in 2022.

Anxiously waiting for the Ministry of Education and Training to issue the admission regulations, Pham Duc Anh - a 12th grade student at Hung Yen High School for the Gifted - is excited about the plan to convert the equivalent admission scores of the methods and subject groups. "If this plan is implemented, I believe there will no longer be a situation where candidates with nearly 30 points still fail the university entrance exam like in previous years," Duc Anh expressed and hoped that training institutions would soon have a conversion plan to widely publicize it for candidates to understand; thereby being more proactive in registering for admission.

At the program “A day as a National Economics student”, Dr. Le Anh Duc - Head of Training Management Department said that one of the new points is that the Ministry of Education and Training requires schools to convert the equivalence between methods to a scale of scores for admission. That is, schools do not need to divide the percentage of quota for each method. Regardless of the method, these starting points are converted to a scale of 30, then the school takes the highest score to consider admission equally and fairly among all candidates.

For example, Dr. Le Anh Duc discussed, suppose a candidate has a high school graduation exam score of 28 points (in 1 of 4 groups of schools considered for admission), has an international English certificate IELTS 7.0, and has a capacity assessment score of Hanoi National University of 90 points.

In previous years, candidates would submit their applications and check multiple categories. For each category, the school would consider candidates in separate batches. Accordingly, some candidates received 3 certificates of eligibility for admission. However, this year, that will no longer be the case, because after converting to a 30-point scale, the school will use the highest score for admission consideration.

Schools actively convert

The National Economics University has gathered leading experts in the fields of Mathematics and Information Technology, and conducted research based on data from recent years, including: University graduation results of students admitted by each method to find ways to evaluate. “For example, the competency assessment test score will be equivalent to how many points in the High School Graduation Exam. Equivalence here is understood in terms of learning ability, not in terms of arithmetic conversion. Therefore, there must be a basis and basis to give a conversion coefficient,” Dr. Le Anh Duc cited.

Basically, the National Economics University has finished calculating and will announce it publicly in the near future. Dr. Le Anh Duc said that after having the conversion coefficient, when entering scores in each admission method, candidates will be automatically converted to the starting score on coefficient 30. Although there are many characteristics and belong to many different admission subjects, in the end, candidates only have one single scale to evaluate their abilities and are used to compete equally with candidates applying for admission to the National Economics University.

Converting to a common scale is a solution that creates many points that are beneficial to candidates, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Duy Hai - Head of Admissions and Career Guidance Department (Hanoi University of Science and Technology) said. Accordingly, schools will calculate and analyze previous enrollment data to come up with the most accurate and fair conversion coefficient for candidates. "Lower-ranked" schools will not have difficulty because enrollment is mainly based on high school transcripts and high school exam scores. These are two methods with a fairly high correlation ratio, so the conversion between high school exam scores and transcripts is quite similar.

However, Associate Professor Dr. Vu Duy Hai said that the difficulty will be on the "top" schools due to the diversity of admission forms such as: Using international certificates/using separate exams. At that time, "top" schools need to carefully consider converting to the same high school transcript score and high school graduation exam score.

With many years of experience, the Academy of Finance has no difficulty converting the benchmark scores to a common scale. Dr. Luu Huu Duc - Head of the Training Management Board said that the Academy still takes into account the high school study results of 3 years of study. The average score of 6 semesters is considered as a starting point to evaluate both the candidate's learning process and the admission results. "The Academy's Admissions Council has carefully calculated and will soon introduce it in the admission plan in the near future," Dr. Luu Huu Duc informed.