High school seniors struggle with aptitude tests.

The more exams there are, the harder it gets.

From early morning on May 21st, hundreds of parents from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, as well as some neighboring provinces, traveled long distances to Vinh University for their children to participate in the aptitude test organized by the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This is the 6th time the Vietnam National University, Hanoi has organized this year, but the 2nd time it has been held in Nghe An.

For the past two years, the aptitude test held at Vinh University has been more convenient for candidates. Photo: My Ha

In 2023, Nghe An only organized the exam twice, the first time in April and the second time in May, so the number of candidates was very large, with thousands participating.

Many candidates said that, although the exam is held many times, most candidates choose to take it in Nghe An because it saves time and travel costs. Furthermore, holding the exam at the end of May is quite convenient, as schools have usually completed the curriculum in the textbooks by then.

"Since the Lunar New Year, this is the third time my daughter and I have traveled together to participate in the aptitude test," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Lanh (Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province). Of the three tests, two were held in Vinh City, and she and her daughter traveled there by motorbike a few hours in advance, so it wasn't too difficult. For the remaining test, they went to Da Nang to participate in the aptitude test organized by the National University of Ho Chi Minh City. The total cost for travel, accommodation, and meals for the more than one day her daughter was taking the test exceeded 2 million VND.

Thousands of candidates participated in the competency assessment exam in Nghe An. Photo: PV

She also said that after finishing this exam, in June she and her child will go to Hanoi to participate in the Hanoi University of Technology's aptitude test. This is the most important exam because her child's aspiration is to get into Hanoi University of Technology. Sharing more about this journey, Ms. Lanh added: "I see how hard my children are working because they have to participate in 4 or 5 exams just to get into university, each with a different format. I just hope my child does well on the exam and gets into the school of their dreams."

Sitting with Ms. Lanh waiting for her son was Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hung from Tan Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district). This man, around 50 years old with a rather weary face, said he wasn't sure how the aptitude test differed from the high school graduation exam. However, his son, currently a 12th-grade student at Bac Yen Thanh High School, scored 110 out of 150 points last time, which his teachers considered quite high. Nevertheless, he was still not satisfied with the result and registered for a second attempt to improve his score.

Parents wait for their children at the aptitude test site. Photo: My Ha

Speaking further about his son's aspirations, Mr. Hung said: "He's a good student; he scored nearly 28 points on the mock university entrance exam at school and has a good chance of getting into university. My family also hopes he'll attend the Police Academy to reduce tuition fees and make it easier to find a job, but he hasn't agreed yet. He still wants to participate in more exams to broaden his chances of getting into university, and I'm always ready to support him…"

To take his son to this exam, Mr. Hung took two days off from his construction work. Although the distance from Yen Thanh district to Vinh City is only about 50 km, the father and son woke up early in the morning to leave on time for the exam. After the exam, they braved the midday sun, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, to return home so the son could focus on studying for his high school graduation exam.

Exam preparation is difficult.

In the last few years, aptitude tests, which were originally separate exams for universities, have become the main exams because hundreds of universities use the results of these aptitude tests for university admissions.

Preparations for the competency assessment exam were carried out meticulously by the Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in collaboration with Vinh University. (Photo: PV)

Notably, in this exam, although students still take cultural subjects, the broad scope of knowledge and the comprehensive exam covering many subjects from natural sciences to social sciences and foreign languages ​​make studying and reviewing quite challenging for students. In reality, in schools, teachers only provide guidance for students to study and take this exam, and this guidance is only for reference purposes. Meanwhile, to prepare for the exam, students often turn to online review courses on the internet.

In addition to knowledge from textbooks, students participating in competency assessment exams must also independently research and supplement their knowledge, because a number of questions in these exams are based on real-world situations.

Checking the information of candidates participating in the aptitude test at Vinh University. Photo: PV

A student from Chu Van An High School for the Gifted - Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, who achieved the top score in the second round of the National University of Hanoi's aptitude test with 120/150 points, also admitted that completing 150 questions across three sections, including quantitative reasoning (Mathematics), qualitative reasoning (Vietnamese Language and Literature), and science (comprising questions from Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Geography) within 190 minutes was "extremely stressful," even though she had a fairly good foundation in knowledge and social understanding.

Student Nguyen Van Tien Dung (Class 12 A1 - Thanh Chuong 1 High School) also achieved 112/150 points in the aptitude test of Hanoi National University held in April. Dung said that he did quite well in the Math section, but the qualitative reasoning and science sections had many difficult questions that he couldn't answer, especially Physics and Chemistry (even though Dung won second prize in the provincial excellent student competition in Chemistry).

This exam also lacks knowledge-based questions and mainly consists of questions from common topics upwards, requiring students to have solid knowledge and quick calculation skills. Currently, despite having a fairly safe score, Dung is still not confident in applying through this method because the number of participants in this exam is very large, and he is not really satisfied with his score.

In class 12A1 of Thanh Chuong 1 High School, more than 20 students have participated in competency assessment exams so far (accounting for over 50%).

More than half of the students in class 12A1 - Thanh Chuong 1 High School participated in the aptitude test. Photo: PV

As the homeroom teacher and direct math teacher in the class, Mr. Nguyen Canh Tai said: Currently, top universities mainly select students based on the results of the aptitude test, so it is inevitable that more and more students will participate in this exam. Personally, I believe that the questions in this exam are very good and require students to have critical thinking skills and real abilities. However, teaching students according to the orientation of this exam is still difficult because the nature of the questions between the two exams is quite different, and to do well on the aptitude test, students need to have solid knowledge, in addition to good thinking skills, they need to be able to grasp the entire knowledge.

To prepare students for this exam, since the beginning of the school year, teacher Nguyen Canh Tai has been independently searching for materials, collecting aptitude test questions, and organizing teaching for students in a way that develops critical thinking. However, due to its rather unique nature, Mr. Tai also said that this exam is currently only suitable for students with exceptional aptitude. Meanwhile, the average student finds it difficult to participate for various reasons, including ability, academic level, and family circumstances. In addition, the current curriculum for 11th and 12th grade students is also struggling to keep up with the new exam format.

Some photos from the competency assessment exam. Photo: PV

As a teacher at Dang Thuc Hua High School and having a child participating in this year's competency assessment exam, Ms. Tran Thi Hien also stated: "In our school, mainly students in the advanced classes are able to participate in the competency assessment exam. Organizing additional exams clearly gives students more opportunities, but it also presents difficulties because the amount of knowledge required in this exam is vast and covers many different subjects. Meanwhile, demanding comprehensive development from students is very challenging."

I believe that this year's students are not adequately prepared. In reality, they are mostly "swimming" on their own during this exam. Even I and many other teachers sometimes don't know how to teach them correctly and sufficiently, because there's a huge difference between learning and testing. There are many questions that younger students can answer, but older students don't know the answers to because they aren't closely related to the textbook. If they had studied the new curriculum from their middle school years, it would have been easier, as the curriculum would be more aligned with the competency assessment exams.

Teacher Tran Thi Hien - Dang Thuc Hua High School