Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long speaks. Photo: VNA

The report of the Ministry of Education and Training said that the 2025 High School Graduation Exam will be the first exam organized according to the 2018 General Education Program. Accordingly, from 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training will prepare early, remotely, the document systems, and organizational processes to provide general direction to the provinces/cities directly under the Central Government in organizing the exam locally.

Regarding the exam schedule, the exam invigilation will take place on June 25, 26, and 27, 2025; of which June 25 is the exam registration date, June 26-27 are the official exam dates, and June 28 is the backup date.

The exam marking will be carried out according to the general plan from June 29 to July 14, 2025; exam results will be announced at 8:00 a.m. on July 16, 2025 at the Ministry of Education and Training and in 63 provinces and cities (Departments of Education and Training).

Regarding the exam subjects, for candidates taking the exam according to the 2018 General Education Program (expected to be over 1.1 million candidates), the exam will consist of 3 sessions, including 1 session of Literature, 1 session of Mathematics and 1 session of an optional exam including 2 subjects from the following subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, Economic and Legal Education, Information Technology, Technology (Industry, Agriculture), Foreign Languages ​​(English, Russian, French, Chinese, German, Japanese and Korean).

For candidates studying under the 2006 General Education Program (estimated to be nearly 25,000 candidates), the organization includes 5 exams according to the 2006 General Education Program including: Literature; Mathematics; Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), Social Sciences (History, Geography, Civic Education) and Foreign Language.

To be considered for high school graduation recognition, each candidate must take four exams including Literature, Math, Foreign Language and one Natural Science or Social Science exam; the exam will be held in four sessions as in previous years.

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong, the 2025 High School Graduation Exam is a major exam with the participation of more than 1.1 million candidates across 63 provinces/cities; at the same time, the exam is organized according to two general education programs. The organization of the exam is coordinated by officials, teachers of the education sector, police, military, health, electricity, etc.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong emphasized the goal of "2 reductions" is to reduce pressure and reduce costs for society while still ensuring the proposed quality.

The nature of this year's exam is particularly important, the Ministry of Education and Training will strive to ensure the exam is safe, serious, objective, in accordance with regulations, and effective. Regarding some points to note in the implementation of the exam, the representative of the Ministry of Education and Training said that the High School Graduation Exam is held in June, in 3 regions of the country, so the weather factor needs to be considered.

A notable point of this year's exam is the timing of the exam in the context that the whole country is implementing the arrangement and organization of the political system, the arrangement of administrative units and the organization of 2-level local governments according to the policies of the Party and the State. Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention and thoroughly train those participating in organizing the exam, including reserve personnel; promptly change personnel work when there is mobilization and rotation due to the merger.

At the meeting, a representative of the Ministry of Public Security said that the district-level police force that in previous years participated in supporting security and safety for the exams in localities has now been transferred to the provincial and communal levels. Therefore, the work of ensuring security and order for the exams will be deployed in accordance with the organization of the local police force.

Recently, the education sector and the police have coordinated to organize training on the 2025 high school graduation exam for the Departments of Education and Training, Internal Political Security Departments, and the Police of provinces and cities to thoroughly understand the exam regulations, train in exam organization techniques, and train in the use of software systems to serve the exam organization work.

At the training session, situations and problems that arose in previous years were summarized and detailed instructions on how to handle them were provided to the departments.

Regarding ensuring security and order for the exam, a representative of the Ministry of Public Security said that the use of high technology to cheat on exams is very complicated. In recent years, the police force has dismantled many rings that buy and sell microscopic listening devices that are inserted into the ear to commit cheating.

In addition, recently, the world has also discovered cases of using AI to cheat on exams. Therefore, the police force has focused on solutions to enhance security and order for the exam.

Besides, it is necessary to do a good job of propaganda and dissemination to candidates and parents, especially about the issue of students and candidates leaking exam questions.

The representative of the Government Inspectorate said that the inspection sector will coordinate with the education sector and the People's Committees of the provinces to have an effective plan to mobilize the education inspection force in the localities to participate in the context of no longer having Department inspectors.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long acknowledged that the Ministry of Education and Training, ministries, branches and functional agencies have been very proactive in preparing for the High School Graduation Exam.

“However, there is still a lot of work to be done in the near future, we absolutely must not be subjective. The requirement is to organize the exam successfully, safely, achieve the set goals, and avoid incidents,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long noted that this year's high school graduation exam has some differences that need to be recognized and clearly defined in the directive documents to have closer solutions. That is, organizing the high school graduation exam for candidates studying under the 2006 and 2018 general education programs.

The exam was held at the right time of "transition" in the organization of the apparatus and arrangement of administrative units such as not organizing at the district level, merging provinces and communes, arranging the system of police and inspection agencies... These are the levels and agencies with important tasks and responsibilities in organizing the annual graduation exam.

Therefore, it is necessary to continue to have directive documents and specific activities for organizing this exam in the direction of "hand-holding and guiding", closely following the situation of arrangement and organization of the apparatus.

The Party Committee of the Ministry of Education and Training also needs to send a document to the Standing Committee of the Party Committees of provinces and cities requesting close direction in organizing the High School Graduation Exam.

The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Health, and the Government Inspectorate need to develop a plan for the implementation and coordination of the high school graduation exam. In all cases, consistency and continuity must be ensured from the central to local levels.

The Deputy Prime Minister proposed holding a national online conference on graduation exams at an appropriate time.