Vietnam: Examination, testing, and assessment of the unit of study in the master's program

Vietnam: Examination, testing, and assessment of the unit of study in the master's program (Illustrative image)

Under the Master's Training Regulation issued together with Circular 15/2014/TT-BGDDT, the examination, testing, and assessment of the unit of study in the master's program in Vietnam are specified as follows:

1. The assessment of the units of study in Vietnam must ensure the following requirements:

- Be objective, accurate, fair, and able to classify the level of learners; public and transparent regulations on assessment and assessment results of units of study;

- Examinations and tests must be suitable to the content and ensure the objectives of the unit of study as specified in the detailed syllabus;

- Comply with form and method of assessment as specified in the detailed syllabus of the unit of study;

- Combine regular assessments during the study process with end-of-unit-of-study examinations;

- Combine several forms of assessment (exercises, essays, practice results, thematic reports, written examinations, oral examinations…) suitable to the unit of study requirements;

- Combine assessment of diligent study attitude and learner's independence and creativity.

2, The regular assessment score and the end-of-unit-of-study exam score are marked on a 10-point scale, rounded to one decimal place. The unit-of-study score is the sum of the regular assessment score and the end-of-unit-of-study exam score multiplied by the corresponding weight, rounded to one decimal place. A unit of study is considered passed (accumulated unit of study) when its score is 4.0 or higher. If the unit of study score is below 4.0, the student must retake the unit of study or may switch to another equivalent elective unit of study.

3. If the overall average score of the units of study is below 5.5, the student must register to retake one or several units of study with scores below 5.5 or may switch to another equivalent elective unit of study. The recognized score after retaking the unit of study is the highest unit of study score among the 2 attempts.

4. For foreign language units of study (including the second foreign language for students pursuing a foreign language major or specialization): Based on the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam and Point b, Clause 2, Article 27, the head of the training institution organizes the assessment of the student's foreign language units of study (including students who do not register for foreign language units of study at the training institution).

5. Students are exempt from assessing foreign language units of study are deemed to have foreign language proficiency according to Point b, Clause 2, Article 27 of this Regulation in the following cases:

- Fall under cases exempt from foreign language examinations;

- Have a foreign language proficiency certificate stipulated in Point b, Clause 2, Article 27 of this Regulation or an equivalent (Appendix II) within 2 years from the date of certificate issuance to the registration date of the exam, issued by an institution approved or recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training and the certificate is still valid up to the thesis submission date according to the training institution's regulations;

- Be enrolled for a master's program taught in a foreign language approved by the competent authority; the foreign language proficiency upon admission is at least level 3/6 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam or equivalent; students are taught, write, and defend their thesis in a foreign language.

6. The head of the training institution, based on the regulations of this Regulation and the current regulations on credit-based full-time undergraduate and college programs, stipulates specific contents, including organizing unit of study assessments, the number of testing sessions, conditions for end-of-unit-of-study examinations, the weight of assessment scores and exam scores; using a 10-point scale and/or 5-level letter scale A, B, C, D, F (corresponding to: excellent, good, average, below average, and poor) when calculating the unit of study score; retaking units of study (including retaking units of study with scores of 5.5 or higher if students wish to and the training institution accepts); calculating the average score of all units of study (GPA).

Details may be found in Circular 15/2014/TT-BGDDT effective from July 1, 2014.

Ty Na

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