Why did Ho Chi Minh City National University suddenly change the structure of the 2025 competency assessment exam?

Change as students choose diverse subjects

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh, Director of the Center for Testing and Quality Assessment, Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that in 2025, the number of questions in the competency assessment test will increase to increase the reliability and discrimination of the test.

Specifically, part 3 is restructured from the logic - data analysis and problem solving sections in the exam structure for the period 2018-2024, aiming to assess candidates' ability in logic and scientific reasoning to solve real-life situations in the fields of science, technology, economics and society.

The questions in the scientific thinking section are designed to provide information, data, facts, experimental planning, and experimental results, thereby requiring candidates to demonstrate their ability to understand and apply information, determine experimental results, and predict laws.

According to Mr. Chinh, the competency assessment test from 2025 includes 120 objective multiple-choice questions. The test will take 150 minutes and will be conducted on paper. The test results will be determined using modern multiple-choice methods based on question response theory. The score of each question will have different weights depending on the difficulty of the question.

After 7 years of organizing stable capacity assessment exams and recruiting students to meet the university requirements of member schools, Ho Chi Minh City National University is forced to change the structure of the capacity assessment exam.

The reason, according to Mr. Chinh, is that in the 2018 general education program, students choose 4 subjects out of 9 subjects: geography, economic and legal education, physics, chemistry, biology, technology, music , information technology, and fine arts. Thus, there are 126 subject combinations, and students' choices are very diverse.

"For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, according to data from Ho Chi Minh City National University, there are 87,000 students in grade 10, of which 64,976 students choose physics, 58,481 students choose chemistry, 43,816 students choose biology, 41,075 students choose geography, and 39,900 students choose economic and legal education.

In grade 12, there are 90,000 students, of which 59,319 students choose to study physics, 52,006 students choose to study chemistry, 38,779 students choose to study biology, 40,729 students choose to study geography, 39,152 students choose to study economic and legal education. Thus, changing the structure of the competency assessment exam is to match the trend of choosing diverse subjects of candidates in the 2018 general education program," said Mr. Chinh.

According to Mr. Chinh, the structure and content of the 2025 competency assessment test have many similarities with international standardized tests such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) of the United States, the Psychometric Entrance Test (PET) of Israel and the General Aptitude Test (GAT) of Thailand.

This helps to assess students’ overall abilities according to international standards and ensures fairness, creating equal opportunities in accessing higher education for all candidates. This approach is also consistent with the combined admission orientation of training institutions under Ho Chi Minh City National University.

How will the 2025 competency assessment test structure change?

Compared to 2024 and previous years, the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment test from 2025 has many changes. Part 1 uses language with 60 questions, divided equally into 2 parts: Vietnamese and English. Part 2, mathematics 30 questions. Part 3, scientific thinking 30 questions, of which logic and data analysis 12 questions, scientific reasoning 18 questions.

Meanwhile, from 2024 onwards, the exam structure also has 3 parts. In which, part 1 uses language with 40 questions, divided equally between Vietnamese and English. Part 2 is math - logic - data analysis with 30 questions divided equally between math, logic, data analysis. Part 3 is problem solving with 50 questions, divided equally between chemistry, physics, biology, geography, history, each part has 10 questions.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh said that in 7 years of organization, Ho Chi Minh City National University has organized 12 exams with nearly half a million candidates participating. There are 53 universities and colleges coordinating to organize the exam in 26 localities. Students from 1,924 high schools have participated in the exam, 109 universities use the results for admission. Ho Chi Minh City National University alone has recruited 37,810 candidates.