In a document issued at noon on June 15, the Ministry said that in order to "ensure legitimate rights for learners", candidates with foreign language certificates, including IELTS, issued after September 10 will still be considered for exemption from the exam and have their scores counted for 10 foreign language subjects in the high school graduation exam.

The announcement was made five days after the Department of Quality Management of the Ministry of Education and Training requested localities to verify the foreign language proficiency certificates of candidates exempted from the exam. Accordingly, legal certificates for exemption from the Foreign Language exam must be issued before September 10, 2022 - the time when many units organizing and issuing IELTS certificates in Vietnam have not been licensed by the Ministry.

This means that thousands of candidates with IELTS certificates may lose the opportunity to be exempted from the Foreign Language exam in the high school graduation exam. For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, more than 750 candidates were affected. Parents and candidates were upset when the announcement of the change was made about two weeks before the exam, leaving students surprised and without time to review and prepare.

Upon receiving the news from the Ministry, Mr. Le Ngoc in Hoc Mon, Ho Chi Minh City, said he felt relieved. Previously, his son was confused because he had a 7.0 IELTS certificate, issued by IDP on September 22, 2022, but it was not recognized.

"With the new decision of the Ministry of Education and Training, my child can continue to review for exams and apply for university admission using IELTS certificate as originally planned," said Mr. Ngoc.

According to regulations, candidates with an IELTS certificate of 4.0 or higher or equivalent, with a certificate valid until at least June 27, 2023, are exempted from taking and having their scores counted for 10 English subjects in the graduation exam. This year, there are tens of thousands of candidates nationwide in this category, of which 16,000 are in Hanoi alone and nearly 10,000 are in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, IELTS and other foreign language certificates are also widely used in recognizing foreign language output standards for students, university admission, studying abroad, and even secondary and high school admission.

Therefore, the postponement of IELTS and foreign language certificates in early November last year has led to many incidents. At the beginning of the year, thousands of students at Ton Duc Thang University and the University of Electricity did not have their Aptis Esol English certificates recognized for graduation, and had to file lengthy complaints. In May, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City rejected the IELTS certificates of 44 candidates for master's and doctoral degrees. All of these certificates were issued during the period when the testing organization had not yet been licensed by the Ministry.

The matter was only resolved when the Department of Quality Management sent a written request for cooperation from relevant parties, while affirming that IELTS certificates are valid in recruitment and training.

Le Nguyen - Duong Tam