HCMC tops English test scores in high-school graduation exam for 8 consecutive years

By Duong Tam July 17, 2024 | 11:55 pm PT

A student reacts after finishing the high school graduation exam at a school in HCMC on June 28, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Students in Ho Chi Minh City had an average English score of 6.73 out of 10 for this year's high-school graduation exam, a slight decrease compared to last year but still leading the country, while Hanoi dropped in the ranking.

With this result, the city leads the national rankings for the 8th consecutive year in high school graduation English exam scores, according to results announced by the Ministry of Education and Training on Wednesday.

It is followed by neighbor Binh Duong Province with an average score of 6.65, which is also a slight decrease against last year.

Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, home to the beach city of Vung Tau, and Hanoi are ranked third and fourth, swapping places from last year.

The other names in the top 10 are Da Nang, Vinh Phuc, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh. Students from those localities achieved average English scores of 5.83 or higher.

The top 10 provinces with the lowest average English scores did not change much from last year, mostly from the northern mountainous region.

The northern mountainous province of Ha Giang that borders China has been at the bottom for many years and continues to be the only locality with an average score below 4.

Of the 906,500 students taking the English test, 565 scored a perfect 10, while 145 scored below passing (1 or lower).

Nearly 42.7% of the tests scored below average, a decrease of about 2% from last year. The average score achieved by candidates was 5.51, slightly higher than last year by about 0.06 points.

More than 1.07 million candidates took part in the high school graduation exams on June 26-28.

Foreign language was the last subject tested, mainly English. Nearly 67,000 candidates were exempt from the exam and automatically scored 10 points for this subject due to holding international certificates equivalent to IELTS 4.0 or higher. This number has increased by nearly 20,000 compared to last year.

The high school graduation examination in Vietnam requires each 12th grader to undergo four tests, three of which are compulsory: Math, Literature and Foreign Language. For the fourth test, students can choose between a combination of natural sciences (Biology, Physics, Chemistry) and social sciences (History, Geography, Civic Education).