📋 Tender Overview
From 2026, many universities across the country will no longer apply the admission method based on high school transcripts. This decision directly affects candidates and parents, and makes graduation exams, capacity assessments and thinking assessments a key factor in university admission. Many universities across the country announced that they will no longer apply the method of admission based on high school transcripts. The schools at the forefront of this trend. The leading schools in abolishing the evaluation of transcripts include Hanoi Polytechnic University, School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts (VNU), Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Nha Trang University, when they simultaneously stopped applying this method for all majors. In the pedagogical sector, the University of Education - Thai Nguyen University also does not consider transcripts, while Hanoi University of Pedagogy 2 only maintains a number of specific majors. Many other schools continue to narrow or eliminate transcript review in the fields of pedagogy, economics, engineering and art. Instead, schools are switching to more standardized methods such as high school graduation exam scores, competency assessment tests, thinking assessments or a combination of international certificates. Detailed information about admission methods and applied majors will be announced in each schools 2026 Admissions Project, candidates need to follow to prepare accurate documents. Candidates need to clearly understand the conditions and admission opportunities. The gap between beautiful scores and real ability Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam - Vice Rector of the University of Education (VNU) said that the fact that many universities simultaneously stop considering transcripts from 2026 is not a sudden decision, but an inevitable consequence of long-term inadequacies in the way of evaluating transcripts at high school level. According to him, school report scores are currently significantly influenced by subjective factors in the teaching and testing and evaluation process. With nearly 3,000 high schools nationwide, differences in conditions, teaching quality, and seriousness in grading make it difficult for academic records to equally reflect students abilities. Many students in disadvantaged areas can still achieve high scores thanks to the incentive points mechanism, while students in high-quality schools have to go through a stricter evaluation process. This leads to the common phenomenon of beautiful grades but actual abilities being disproportionate. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam also pointed out that school records in some cases are also beautified or adjusted according to the wishes of parents and students. In fact, there still exists the situation of asking - giving scores or raising scores to increase the chances of university admission. When affected by such non-professional factors, transcripts can no longer hold the role of an objective measure, making it even more difficult to compare as entrance competition at major universities becomes increasingly fierce. Not only relying on actual observations, many universities have also analyzed data and come to the conclusion that transcript scores do not well predict students learning ability in the first year of university. The results show that students admitted with transcripts have a higher rate of failing courses and leaving school, while the correlation between transcript scores and first-year average score is not clear. These data cause schools to gradually reduce their confidence in the value of transcripts as a tool to evaluate academic ability. Another equally worrying issue that Associate Professor Dr. Nam mentioned is that social psychology is too dependent on beautiful transcripts. Many parents invest more in beautifying their resume than in nurturing their childrens real abilities. This makes it easy for students to fall into the illusion of ability, leading to disappointment when entering a university environment with much more rigorous and independent thinking requirements. However, he emphasized that we should not be extreme in completely denying the value of transcripts. There are no errors in academic records, he said, the problem lies in the evaluation system, which does not ensure standardization and transparency. In the long term, general education needs to move towards a more continuous, objective testing and evaluation process, with supervision and quality control, so that transcripts truly reflect students learning process. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam gives advice to students in the current context. Notes for candidates In the context of many changes in 2026 admission, Associate Professor, Dr. Nam recommends that students focus on their intrinsic abilities instead of relying on a high average score as an absolute advantage. Logical thinking, abstract thinking, the ability to use language and the ability to reason and solve problems will become core competencies when schools move to standardized assessment. In addition, students need to strengthen their foundation in Math, Vietnamese and English to meet the requirements of both the high school graduation exam and capacity assessment tests, thinking assessments or international certificates. Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam also emphasized the importance of soft skills, especially the ability to self-study, manage time and build long-term plans. These are skills that not only help students prepare well for exams, but are also important tools for effective study at university level. Finally, Associate Professor Dr. Nam believes that universities need to publishEarly admission projects, especially changes in combination and separate admission methods, so that students have enough time to prepare thoroughly. According to him, transparency and initiative from schools will help reduce pressure on students, while limiting the tendency to follow the trend in choosing a
