As many as 98.9% of Hanoi students sitting the national high school examination in early July have been qualified for graduation for the 2020-2021 academic year, according to the municipal Department of Education and Training.

The exams were aimed at assessing whether students were eligible for graduation, not at selecting qualified graduates for universities or colleges admission.

Candidates attend the national high school graduation exams 2021 in Hanoi. Photo: Nam Du

More than 101,000 Hanoian candidates took the national high school graduation exams on July 7-8, marking an increase of over 22,000 candidates compared to the previous academic year.

This year’s national high school exam had to be divided into two phases. The first one was held on July 7-8 for contestants with good health and virus-free. The second one was slated to take place one month later for the test takers suspected of contracting the novel coronavirus (also known as F1, F2 groups) and the contestants in the mass quarantine areas.

However, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training on July 28 announced that the city will not hold the second phase of the high school graduation exam due to the increasingly serious evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic in the capital city.

The municipal Department of Education and Training is expected to give automatic graduation to eligible students if they meet certain conditions, with results being published no later than August 2.

Since 2015, the high school graduation and university entrance exams have been pooled into one and named the national high school exam in Vietnam. Some universities still hold their own exams to assess candidates.