Hanoi's ninth graders will take the 10th-grade entrance exam for the 2023-2024 school year on June 10 and 11, according to the municipal Education and Training Department.

The students will be tested in Mathematics, Literature, and Foreign Languages. They can choose English, French, German, Japanese, and South Korean for the foreign language test.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong inspected the preparation of the 10th grade entrance exam in 2022. Photo: Ngoc Tu/ The Hanoi Times

Those who do not pass the entrance exam can opt for private schools, international institutes, continuing education centers, and the like. However, public schools are always the first choice because of their affordable tuition fees.

Those seeking admission to high schools for the gifted will take a test in one more subject.

Literature exams will be in the form of writing an essay in 120 minutes, while students will take a multiple-choice test in 60 minutes in the foreign language exam.

Earlier, the Hanoi People's Committee had surveyed teachers and parents about the possibility of holding three-subject or four-subject exams this year.

Ho Hong The, a parent of a ninth grader at Lomonosop My Dinh High School in Nam Tu Liem District, told The Hanoi Times that they support the three-subject exam to reduce pressure on their children.

The entrance exam for senior secondary education in Hanoi is notoriously stressful because Hanoi's public schools only admit about 60% of ninth graders, while parents always place high expectations on their children.

Hanoi's previous method of holding exams in four subjects met with public backlash, as three subjects were announced ahead of time (Mathematics, Literature, and a foreign language), while the fourth was not released until the days close to the exam.

This is the third time Hanoi has held three-subject senior secondary education entrance exams in the past five years. In 2020 and 2022, the 4th subject was dropped due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.