New points of the 2018 university entrance examination are stipulated in Circular 07/2018/TT-BGDDT recently issued by the Ministry of Education and Training. Notably, the following new points have been introduced:
Article table of contents
1. Direct admission for candidates winning international awards in recognized competitions
Specifically, direct admission to universities will be granted to candidates with artistic talents who have graduated from high school or graduated from intermediate schools for the arts, won official awards in international arts competitions in singing, dancing, music, and fine arts recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
Furthermore, the Regulation also supplements the category for direct admission consideration to include individuals who have won first, second, or third prizes in ASEAN regional and international vocational skills competitions. Additionally, these individuals must have a high school diploma or an intermediate diploma and must have studied and passed the required cultural knowledge volume as prescribed by law to be directly admitted into a relevant sector or profession for which the award was received.
2. 50% reduction in regional priority points
The previous regulation stipulated a 0.5-point priority scale between two adjacent regions. However, the new regulation has revised it, reducing the regional priority point scale to 0.25 points.
Thus, the priority point scale by region will be reduced by 50% in this year's admission season.
3. Schools have the right to decide their own admission threshold
This regulation applies to all training sectors, except those training in the field of pedagogy.
Based on the results of the national high school exam, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) will determine the minimum quality assurance threshold for pedagogical training sectors for schools to formulate their admission plans.
For other sectors, schools will self-determine the quality assurance threshold, publish this on their official website, and on the MOET's admission information portal before candidates adjust their preferences.
4. Admission scores are rounded to two decimal places
The 2018 university admission regulations clearly state: The admission score is the total score of the tested subjects per the 10-point scale for each test/subject in each combination of tests plus the priority points for candidates and regions according to Article 7 of this Regulation and rounded to two decimal places.
5. Only considering university admission in pedagogy for high school graduates with excellent academic performance
This is a prominent new point in this year's university admission regulations. Accordingly:
- For university-level admissions, only high school graduates with a 12th-grade academic performance rated as excellent are eligible. For Music Pedagogy, Art Pedagogy, and Physical Education teacher training sectors, high school graduates with a 12th-grade academic performance rated as good or higher are eligible.- For college-level and intermediate-level admissions, high school graduates with a 12th-grade academic performance rated as good or higher are eligible. For Music Pedagogy, Art Pedagogy, (college-level) Physical Education teacher training sectors, and (intermediate-level) Sports Education teacher training sectors, high school graduates with a 12th-grade academic performance rated as average or higher are eligible.
