MoET affirms foreign-language certificates remain valid in university admissions

Students at Lê Lợi High School in Thọ Xuân Commune, Thanh Hóa Province, review lessons and practise test papers. VNA/VNS Photo Khiếu Tư

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has affirmed that foreign-language certificates will continue to be used to convert or replace foreign-language subject scores in university admission combinations, while national-level outstanding students will remain eligible for direct admission

Claims that ‘IELTS is being abolished’ or that ‘foreign-language certificates will no longer be considered’ are inaccurate, the ministry said, stressing that the draft regulations do not remove foreign-language certificates from university admissions or disregard students’ academic achievements

The clarification was made by Nguyễn Tiến Thảo, director of the ministry’s Higher Education Department, amid public concerns over a draft circular amending university admission regulations recently released by the ministry

Under the draft, from 2027, universities will no longer be allowed to award additional bonus points based on certificates, achievements or supplementary criteria at their own discretion

Thảo said the adjustment was necessary to ensure that all applicants to the same programme are assessed against the same admission requirements and on the same scale, while making the admissions process more transparent, straightforward and substantive

However, he stressed that foreign-language certificates would still serve several purposes. They can be converted into, or used in place of, foreign-language subject scores in an admission combination under publicly announced rules; used to demonstrate foreign-language entry requirements for programmes taught in a foreign language; or considered for recognition of courses and learning outcomes in accordance with regulations.

Students winning prizes at national or international academic competitions will also remain eligible for direct admission if they meet the requirements set out in the regulations. From 2027, direct admission will not be counted among the three admission methods permitted for each university programme

“The proposed change is that universities will no longer add points beyond the main assessment scale they establish for certificates, achievements or supplementary criteria,” Thảo said

“The principle is that a given competency should be assessed in its proper place, recognised only once and according to the same rules for all applicants to the same programme,”

According to Thảo, fairness in university admissions does not mean distributing advantages equally, but ensuring that applicants to the same programme are assessed according to the same criteria

He identified two practices that he said currently undermine fairness and need to be addressed

The first is awarding bonus points for foreign-language certificates when the admission combination does not include a foreign-language subject. The second is awarding certificate-based bonus points when the same certificate has already been used to convert or replace the foreign-language subject score

Many programmes do not require foreign-language proficiency, yet applicants holding English certificates can still receive bonus points, he noted

For example, if a programme admits students based only on mathematics, physics and chemistry scores, an applicant with higher scores in all three subjects could still be rejected in favour of another applicant with lower subject scores but an English certificate that earns additional points

If foreign-language proficiency is an essential entry competency, Thảo said, universities should make it an official component of their admission criteria. Applicants could then use either examination results or an equivalent certificate

Conversely, if a programme admits students based solely on mathematics, physics and chemistry, awarding additional points for an English certificate would introduce a criterion unrelated to the programme’s entry requirements and alter the ranking of applicants

Admission data for 2026 show that more than 37,300 applicants used English certificates to obtain bonus points, including more than 35,900 who used IELTS certificates

An IELTS score of 6.0 was the most common level, used by 8,318 applicants. However, universities converted the same score into 26 different bonus-point levels

Thảo also pointed to cases in which programmes with admission cut-off scores of around 28 points awarded up to 1.5 bonus points. As a result, thousands of applicants scoring between 26.5 and 28 points could fail to gain admission simply because they had not had the opportunity to take a costly language certification test

“This is an urgent issue directly related to fairness and needs to be addressed immediately. University autonomy in admissions must go hand in hand with accountability and cannot be used to legitimise a criterion that distorts competition among applicants,” Thảo stressed

Acknowledging concerns among parents and students who have made serious investments in foreign-language learning, Thảo affirmed that their right to use certificates to demonstrate foreign-language proficiency would not be affected, nor would the value of learning English be diminished

If a programme requires foreign-language proficiency, certificates can still be converted to replace the foreign-language subject in the admission process. If a programme is taught in a foreign language and has an entry-language requirement, certificates can still be used to demonstrate that applicants meet the requirement

“We need to look at the substance of the issue and recognise that learning English is necessary for university study and future careers. It is by no means a waste of time or effort,” Thảo said

He also noted that when certificates are pursued primarily for admission advantages, language learning can shift from developing communication, academic and professional skills towards test preparation aimed at reaching a particular score

Admission policies, he said, should restore the original motivation for learning foreign languages: genuine learning, practical use and the creation of long-term advantages for learners

The proposed amendments to the university admission regulations are therefore based on a principle that Thảo described as straightforward: competencies required by a programme should be assessed directly, transparently and equally, while competencies that are not part of the programme’s entry requirements should not become bonus points that alter the ranking of applicants

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Source: vietnamnews.vn