The information was shared by Colonel Do Thanh Tam, Secretary of the Military Admissions Board, Ministry of National Defense, at the admissions consultation day at Hanoi University of Science and Technology on March 17.

Mr. Tam said the preliminary selection takes place at the district military command, where candidates register their permanent residence. Here, candidates have their background verified and health examined.

Block 17 military schools are divided into two groups. The group training technical officers includes the Military Medical Academy, the Military Science Academy, and the Military Technical Academy. The group training command, political, and logistics officers includes the remaining schools. Some conditions will be different between the two groups of schools.

Regarding height and weight, male candidates in region 1 (mountainous, highland, remote, island or communes with especially difficult conditions) and ethnic minorities must be 1.6 m tall and weigh 50 kg; female candidates must be 1.52 m tall and weigh 46 kg or more. The height requirement for candidates from ethnic minorities is very small, with a 2 cm reduction for males; weight reduction of 2 kg for females and 4 kg for males.

Male candidates in the remaining areas must be at least 1.65 m tall, and female candidates 1.54 m tall if applying for the command officer group; 1.63 m for males, 1.54 m for females when applying for the technical officer group. The weight requirement for both groups of schools is 50 kg for males and 48 kg or more for females.

Regarding eyesight, the command staff does not recruit candidates with refractive errors, the remaining must not exceed 3 diopters.

Regarding age, non-military candidates must be between 17 and 21 years old. Active and discharged soldiers and citizens who have completed their service in the People's Public Security must be between 18 and 23 years old.

Mr. Tam noted that candidates only need to complete one set of preliminary application documents. If they pass the preliminary application, they will be considered for admission according to the methods, but must put military schools in their first choice, and the following choices can be placed in fields and schools outside the military sector. During the application process, candidates can adjust their preferences within the school group, but cannot transfer between two schools in different groups.

"After being admitted, candidates will be re-examined for their health and other conditions," said Mr. Tam.

This year, in addition to the traditional method of relying on high school graduation exam results, direct admission according to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, and excellent student admission according to regulations of the Ministry of National Defense, the military school sector added two methods: using the capacity assessment test scores of two national universities and considering academic records.

Schools reserve about 20% of their quota for the ability assessment test score method. With regard to transcripts, except for the Military Technical Academy and the Military Medical Academy, the remaining schools will reserve about 10% of their quota. Candidates need to have a total score of 7 or higher in each year of high school, and the subjects in the admission combination must have a minimum score of 7.5.

Currently, the military group consists of 17 schools. In 2023, these schools will enroll nearly 4,400 students. The benchmark score based on the graduation exam results ranges from 16.25 to 27.97. The Academy of Military Science has the highest benchmark score. Female candidates applying for the Chinese Language major must achieve a total score of 27.97 in three high school graduation exam subjects to be admitted. The lowest is the Engineering Officer School.

Thanh Hang