The top student from Nghe An province is a male student of the Tho ethnic group who previously achieved an IELTS score of 8.0.

The remarkable achievement of a male student from the Tho ethnic group.

Get the results ofhigh school graduation examWith a score of 56.65, securing the top position in the province, including 8.4 points in Mathematics, 9.5 points in Literature, 9.5 points in History, 9.25 points in Geography, 10 points in Civic Education, and 10 points in Foreign Language, Thong happily shared the results with his parents and family members.

Overwhelmed with joy, Thong's sister couldn't hold back her tears. This achievement wasn't just Thong's; behind it lay the pride and the hopes of the entire family...

Cao Duy Thong is of the Tho ethnic group. His family currently lives in Cao village, Nghia Mai commune – a particularly disadvantaged area in Nghia Dan district. Like many other families in the village, Thong's parents are farmers. Thong has three siblings, and all three have been known for being excellent students since childhood. Ten years ago, his first and second sisters both received acceptance letters to the University of Medicine. However, due to the family's circumstances at the time, both sisters put aside their dreams of attending university and went to work early. All hopes were placed on their youngest brother.

Perhaps due to his family circumstances, despite living in a remote area with limited educational resources, Thong was very studious and excelled in his studies. Throughout his middle school years, in grades 6, 7, and 8, Thong participated in the district-level gifted student competitions in Literature and English, winning first and second prizes each time. His biggest regret is that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he was unable to participate in the provincial-level gifted student competition in grade 9.

From the 10th grade, upon being admitted to Co Do High School, Thong was an outstanding student. His teachers recognized his tireless effort and dedication. In particular, throughout his studies, Thong consistently demonstrated his abilities in various competitions, including gifted student exams, mock tests, and assessments. In 12th grade, Thong won second prize in English at the provincial gifted student competition.

Speaking about Thong, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan – the homeroom teacher of class 12D1 – remembers most vividly the image of a diligent and humble student. Throughout his three years of high school, he rarely had a proper lunch, mostly eating a quick sandwich or sticky rice outside the school gate before studying through lunchtime in the classroom. Thong was also a special student, sharing with his friends, a pillar of the class, and forming a group to help weaker students improve. Even in 11th grade, Thong organized a group to support 12th-grade students who were struggling with English for the high school graduation exam.

Sharing her thoughts about her student, teacher Phuong Lan added: "Thong has excellent self-learning abilities. He studies not just for exams, but in a relaxed way to enrich his knowledge with a very comfortable mindset. I'm not surprised that he's the top student in the province, and Thong is a shining example for poor students at a school facing many difficulties like Co Do High School."

The top student is not a bookworm.

Speaking about this year's exam results, Thong admitted that he was surprised by his Literature score of 9.5. Otherwise, all his scores were within his expectations. Furthermore, Thong was slightly surprised by his top ranking in the province, because in his opinion, many of his classmates were excellent students, and compared to them, he wasn't truly outstanding.

Speaking about his study experience, Thong said that he wasn't a bookworm because he didn't attend many extra classes or dedicate excessive time to studying. However, when he sat down to study, Thong always tried his best and made the most of every moment to focus on his lessons.

Using this same learning method, Thong confidently took the IELTS exam and achieved a score of 8.0, even though he didn't take any online courses or attend any language centers. This is a very rare result for a school located in a mountainous region like Co Do High School. Thong added: "Since 10th grade, I've intended to take the IELTS exam and I've searched online for learning methods. I think my biggest advantage is having a fairly solid grammar foundation. For the rest, I found materials to study on my own. For listening and speaking, I practiced by watching online videos and speaking daily to improve my skills."

With an IELTS score of 8.0, Thong was naturally exempt from the English exam. However, wanting to challenge himself, he still registered for the exam and achieved a perfect score of 10. Even before taking the high school graduation exam, Thong had already received an acceptance letter to the Diplomatic Academy as his first choice. Nevertheless, wanting to prove himself and not disappoint his teachers and family, Thong made every effort to achieve the highest possible result.

Having achieved excellent results, Thong expressed his gratitude to his teachers, who have accompanied and supported him throughout his studies at school. Thong is also grateful to his parents and sisters, as his family is the motivation for him to strive harder every day.

Thông said that she really enjoys learning about history and diplomatic relations between Vietnam and other countries around the world, especially in the current era of integration. Therefore, the Diplomatic Academy will be the school where Thông can fulfill her dream of becoming a diplomat in the future...