Vietnam debates separating high school graduation exam from university admissions

Following a cheating scandal in the 2026 high school graduation exam in Tuyên Quang, Vietnamese lawmakers and education experts are discussing whether to split the joint exam that currently determines both high school graduation and university admissions. Committee chair Nguyen Dac Vinh described the irregularities as “very serious” and suggested studying the feasibility of creating two independent examinations.

Experts note that the root causes lie in exam organization: insufficient question banks, inadequate supervision, and the dual purpose of a single test. Proposals include building larger, diversified question pools, establishing independent national testing agencies, and using digital technologies for more transparent assessment. Some argue that simply separating the exams would not solve the problem, emphasizing improvements in test design, oversight, and the increasing flexibility of universities to use multiple admission criteria beyond exam scores.