Candidates take the 2026 High School Graduation Examination. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

HÀ NỘI — A total of 874,811 candidates registered for first-round university and college admissions, according to the Ministry of Education and Training.

The amount accounted for 70.4 per cent of the total number of candidates who registered to take this year’s High School Graduation Examination (1,241,914 candidates), which means more than 367,000 candidates did not apply for university or college admissions.

Among the 874,811 candidates, 467,590 registered for admissions to STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics) fields, accounting for 53.4 per cent of the total number of candidates registered for university admissions.

The number of candidates registering for the 111 fields granted Government scholarships in basic sciences, key engineering fields, and strategic technologies under Decree 179 was nearly 331,700, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the total number of registered candidates.

The total number of preferences was over 7.18 million preferences. On average, each candidate registered for more than eight preferences.

The number of preferences registered for STEM fields was 2,368,179 preferences, accounting for nearly 33 per cent of the total number of preferences.

The number of preferences registered for fields granted scholarships under the Decree 179 was nearly 1.3 million preferences, accounting for nearly 18 per cent. — VNS