The benchmark score for grade 10 to enter a top school in Nha Trang is only 9 points, what does the department director say?

Khanh Hoa Province Department of Education and Training has just announced the admission scores for grade 10 of public high schools in the province, of which Ly Tu Trong High School only requires 9 points.

This is an unexpectedly low score because in recent years, this school has always been one of the schools with the highest scores and high competition rate in Khanh Hoa province.

Only 1 candidate got 9 points, the rest got 21 points or more.

On the morning of July 5, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Vo Hoan Hai - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Khanh Hoa province - said that this year's 10th grade entrance exam, the number of candidates in the province was about 3,000 lower than previous years, while the target set was the same.

In the case of Ly Tu Trong High School, this year the number of candidates taking the entrance exam was only 444, compared to the target of 675 students, leading to the actual number of qualified students not being much. To ensure the target, the department lowered the standard score this year to 9 points.

"Although the benchmark score is low, it does not reflect the quality of students entering this school. When considering this year's score, out of a total of 444 candidates, only 1 candidate scored 9 points, 17 candidates scored below 21 points, the rest all scored above 21 points, so the school's input quality is still very good," Mr. Hai explained further.

Mr. Hai also explained that because parents saw that schools like Ly Tu Trong had high scores in previous years, they wanted to choose schools with lower scores so that their children could easily get in, leading to a higher number of candidates applying to other schools this year, so the benchmark scores for these schools were also higher than previous years.

Ensure the number of enrollment targets

Similar cases also occurred at some other famous schools in Khanh Hoa (old) such as Nguyen Van Troi High School in Nha Trang with a benchmark score of 11.5 points, Nguyen Trai High School in Ninh Hoa with a benchmark score of 8.5 points. The schools explained that the benchmark score was lower than previous years to ensure enrollment targets.

Regarding other schools with low benchmark scores in the locality such as Nguyen Du High School ( Bac Ninh Hoa commune) with 5 points, Ton Duc Thang High School (Nam Ninh Hoa commune), To Van On High School (Tu Bong commune) with 6.5 points, the Director of Khanh Hoa Department of Education and Training said that the benchmark scores for grade 10 are low because these schools are mainly located in disadvantaged areas, where students face many challenges in going to school, plus this year the exam subjects only have a coefficient of 1.

"Schools with low admission scores are required to recruit enough students according to the set quota, and at the same time, students' academic performance here is weaker than in other areas, so the quality of education in these schools will be focused on.

"Setting low benchmark scores to maintain the number of students attending these schools, so that they do not have to travel far to schools in the center, ensuring the humane nature of education" - Mr. Hai shared.

In 2025, the entire Khanh Hoa province (old) has 11,005 candidates registered to take the 10th grade entrance exam, taking the exam at 28 examination councils with 474 examination rooms.