12th grade students struggle with aptitude tests

The more exams, the harder it is.

From early morning on May 21, hundreds of parents in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and some neighboring provinces traveled a long distance to Vinh University to have their children take the aptitude test of Hanoi National University. This is the 6th exam organized by Hanoi National University this year, but the 2nd time it is held in Nghe An.

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

In 2023, Nghe An will only organize it twice, the first time in April and the second time in May, so the number of candidates taking the exam is very large with thousands of candidates participating.

Many candidates said that although the exam was held many times, most candidates chose to take the exam in Nghe An because it would save time and travel costs. Moreover, the exam at the end of May was quite suitable because at this time schools had also completed the curriculum in textbooks.

If counting from after Tet until now, this is the third time my mother and I have shouldered the burden of taking part in the competency assessment exam - Ms. Nguyen Thi Lanh (Duc Tho district - Ha Tinh province) said. Of the three exams, two were held in Vinh city, she and her child went by motorbike a few hours in advance so it was not too difficult. For the remaining exam, she and her child went to Da Nang to take part in the assessment exam of Ho Chi Minh City National University, the total cost of going, coming back, eating and staying for more than 1 day for her child to take the exam was more than 2 million VND.

Thousands of candidates have taken part 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 take the thinking assessment exam of Hanoi University of Science and Technology. This is the most important exam because her child's wish is to pass the Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Sharing more about this journey, Ms. Lanh added: I see that my children are having a hard time because just to enter university, they have to take 4 or 5 exams, each exam has a different format. I just hope my child does well on the test and passes the exam to the school of his dreams.

Waiting for his son with Ms. Lanh is Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hung from Tan Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). This man, about 50 years old with a rather tired face, said that he did not know how the competency assessment exam was different from the high school graduation exam. However, the last time, his son, currently a student in class 12A1 at Bac Yen Thanh High School, scored 110/150 points, which was said by the teachers to be quite high. However, he was still not satisfied with the result, so he continued to register for the exam a second time to improve his score.

Parents wait for their children at the test site for assessment of their abilities. Photo: My Ha

Talking more about his son's wishes, Mr. Hung said: He studies well, he got nearly 28 points in the university entrance exam at school and has many opportunities to pass the university entrance exam. My family also wants him to go to the University of Security to save on tuition and find a job easily, but he has not agreed yet. He still wants to take many exams to open the door to university and I am always ready to support him...

To take his son to take this exam, Mr. Hung took 2 days off from work to go to construction. From Yen Thanh district to Vinh city, although it is only about 50 km, but to be on time for the exam, the father and son got up early in the morning. After the exam, the father and son had to travel by motorbike through the midday sun of over 40 degrees Celsius to get home so that his son could study for the high school graduation exam.

Exam preparation is difficult.

In the past few years, the competency assessment test, which was originally a private exam for universities, has become the main exam because hundreds of universities use the results of competency assessment tests for university admission.

Preparations for the competency assessment exam were seriously prepared by Hanoi National University in coordination with Vinh University. Photo: PV

It is worth mentioning that in this exam, although students still take cultural subjects, due to the large amount of knowledge, the test is a synthesis of many subjects from natural sciences to social sciences and foreign languages, so students have a hard time studying and reviewing. In fact, in schools, teachers only guide students to study and take this exam, but it is only for reference. Meanwhile, to review for the exam, students often look for online review courses on the internet.

In addition to the knowledge in textbooks, students participating in competency assessment exams must also research and supplement their knowledge, because a number of questions in competency assessment exams are from real life.

Checking information of candidates taking the competency assessment exam at Vinh University. Photo: PV

Chu Van An student from Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, who was the valedictorian in the second round of the Hanoi National University's competency assessment exam, with 120/150 points, also admitted that completing 150 questions of 3 parts, including quantitative thinking (Math), qualitative thinking (Vietnamese - Literature) and science (including a synthesis of questions from the subjects of Math - Physics - Chemistry - Biology - Geography) within 190 minutes was really "too stressful" even though he had a fairly good foundation of knowledge and understanding of society.

Student Nguyen Van Tien Dung (grade 12 A1 - Thanh Chuong 1 High School) in the Hanoi National University's competency assessment exam held in April also achieved 112/150 points. In the 3 exam sections, Dung also said that he did quite well in the Math section, but the qualitative thinking and science sections had many questions that were too difficult for him to answer, especially Physics - Chemistry (although Dung won second prize in the provincial excellent student category in Chemistry).

In this exam, there are no recognition questions, but mainly questions from the common part upwards, so it requires students to have solid knowledge and quick calculations. Currently, although having a fairly safe score, Dung is still not confident in applying for this method because the number of participants in this exam is very large and he is not really satisfied with this score.

In class 12A1 - Thanh Chuong 1 High School, up to now, more than 20 students have participated in the capacity assessment exams (accounting for more than 50%).

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

As a homeroom teacher and directly teaching Math in class, teacher Nguyen Canh Tai said: Currently, top universities mainly consider admission based on the results of the competency assessment exam, so it is inevitable that more and more students participate in this exam. Personally, I think that the questions in this exam are very good, requiring students to have thinking and real ability. However, in the process of teaching students according to the orientation of this exam, there are still many difficulties, because the nature of the questions between the two exams is quite different and to do well on the competency assessment exam, students must have solid knowledge, in addition to good thinking, they must have the ability to cover the knowledge.

To prepare students for this exam, since the beginning of the school year, teacher Nguyen Canh Tai has searched for documents, collected competency assessment questions, and organized teaching for students in the direction of developing thinking. However, with its quite different nature, teacher Tai also said that this exam is currently only suitable for students with good qualities. Meanwhile, it is difficult for ordinary students to participate for many different reasons in terms of ability, level, family conditions, etc. In addition, the old teaching program currently in effect for students in grades 11 and 12 is also difficult to keep up with the new exam format.

Some pictures at the competency assessment exam. Photo: PV

As a teacher at Dang Thuc Hua High School and having a child taking the competency assessment exam this year, teacher Tran Thi Hien also said: Our school mainly has students in selective classes who can take the competency assessment exam. Organizing additional exams clearly gives students more opportunities, but there are also difficulties, because the amount of knowledge in this exam is a lot with many different subjects. Meanwhile, requiring students to develop comprehensively is very difficult.

I think that this year's students are not fully prepared. In fact, the students participating in this exam are mostly "swimming" on their own. Myself and many other teachers, when teaching students, sometimes do not know how to teach properly and sufficiently because there is a big difference between studying and taking exams. There are many questions that young students can answer, but older students do not know the answers because they are not related to textbooks. If students had studied the new program from middle school, it would have been easier, because the program is closer to the competency assessment exams.

Teacher Tran Thi Hien - Dang Thuc Hua High School