The Ministry of Education and Training holds a press briefing on the organisation of the 2026 national high school graduation exam. — VNA/VNS Photos Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — Candidates nationwide on Friday morning completed the 2026 national high school graduation exam with elective subjects.

At an afternoon post-exam briefing, the Ministry of Education and Training said there were no exam paper leaks or signs of organised cheating, as marking begins for 1.2 million candidates. A total of 74 candidates were disqualified.

Deputy Minister Phạm Ngọc Thưởng said the briefing was held to update the media as the process moves from marking to the release of scores.

He urged education departments to provide full, prompt and direct information, adding that comprehensive assessments would come after results and score distributions are available. 

He noted the exam, held under a new two-tier local government model and involving a very large cohort, saw no major incidents and maintained security.

Lê Mỹ Phong, deputy head of MoET’s Quality Management Authority, said 69 of the 74 disqualified candidates were removed for bringing mobile phones into exam rooms and five for using unauthorised materials. He reiterated there was no evidence of organised cheating.

Candidates complete their final exam at Trưng Vương High School in HCM City.

Experts and public feedback indicate the papers followed the 2018 general education curriculum and the published format, with appropriate differentiation to certify graduation, gauge teaching and learning quality and supply reliable data for admissions. 

The Literature paper drew scrutiny, including over a prompt referencing Steve Jobs. 

Prof. Nguyễn Ngọc Hà, deputy head of the Quality Management Authority, said test-setting is tightly supervised and accounts for region-based differences. He said the social-argument prompt sat in the differentiation section and was worth two points this year, down from four in 2025. 

Deputy Minister Thưởng said open-ended questions require open marking and respect for students’ viewpoints, including counter-arguments that show creativity. The ministry has set up an ad hoc moderation panel to safeguard marking quality.

According to MoET, History drew the most registrations with 570,800 candidates, followed by Geography (448,725), Physics (389,630) and Foreign Language (347,455). 

The least-subscribed subjects were Industrial Technology (7,402) and Informatics (18,691). 

To be considered for graduation, candidates must sit two electives studied in high school. For university admissions, they register subjects according to intended combinations, with a maximum of two electives. 

Students generally said the English and Physics papers were more demanding than last year.

“The English paper had tougher vocabulary, while Physics covered a lot of theory,” one student said.

On computer-based testing, Prof. Huỳnh Văn Chương, head of the Quality Management Authority, said trials will run in 2026, a pilot from 2027 to 2029 and full rollout in 2030.

Parents share a moment with candidates after the 2026 national high school graduation exam at Trần Phú–Hoàn Kiếm High School, Hà Nội.

Alongside paper-based delivery, the ministry is building an item bank, developing software, strengthening security and surveying infrastructure in 34 provinces and cities, with a focus on remote and disadvantaged areas. 

Pilots have been conducted in multiple regions, he said. — VNS