2026 marks the first time Vietnam's high school graduation exam will operate under the 2018 General Education Program — and this shift in exam structure is far more than a technical matter. It reshapes how millions of 12th-grade students must think strategically about their professional futures the moment they register, while simultaneously creating significant information asymmetries between urban and rural test-takers, between families with access to career counseling and those without.
New Structure: From Fixed Combinations to Personalized Choices
Under the new regulations, test-takers taking the 2026 high school graduation exam must take Mathematics and Literature as mandatory subjects, then choose two additional subjects from the remaining list: Foreign Language, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics and Law Education, Information Technology, and Technology. In total, each test-taker takes four subjects instead of six as in previous years.
This change may sound simple, but it creates a complex matrix of choices. With nine elective subjects and two slots, test-takers have 36 possible combinations. Each combination is then compatible or incompatible with different university entrance tracks. In other words, the decision to choose exam subjects now essentially means narrowing — or expanding — the doors to university.
The key difference from the old system: previously, test-takers took exams in either Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) or Social Sciences (History, Geography, Civic Education), meaning choices were group-based and more predictable. Now, a test-taker could choose Physics combined with Geography, or Information Technology combined with History — combinations that never existed in previous exams.
Subject Selection Strategy: The Inverse Problem from Academic Disciplines
The question millions of families are asking — "besides Math and Literature, what subject should I choose?" — is actually the wrong question if posed in isolation. The right question should be: what field and university does the test-taker want to apply to, and what subject combination does that field require?
Many major universities in Vietnam — including Hanoi University of Technology, National Economics University, and Hanoi Medical University — have not yet fully published their 2026 admission plans as of April 2026. This creates a dangerous information gap: test-takers must register before knowing for certain what subject combination the universities they're targeting will use for admission.
However, based on trends from previous years and preliminary information, some strategic principles can be identified:
Engineering and Technology Fields: Physics is nearly mandatory. The second subject is usually Chemistry (for Chemistry, Materials, Environmental programs) or Information Technology (for Information Technology, Computer Science programs). Notably, Information Technology's appearance as an official graduation exam subject is entirely new, reflecting efforts to integrate digital skills into the general education curriculum.
Medicine and Pharmacy Fields: Chemistry and Biology remain the traditional pairing. However, some international or collaborative medical programs may accept Foreign Language as a substitute for one of the two science subjects.
Economics, Law, and Management Fields: This is the largest gray area. Many traditional economics universities use Group A (Math, Physics, Chemistry) but also accept Group D (Math, Literature, English). With the new structure, Foreign Language becomes the safest choice for this group since it opens doors to both Group D and many other combinations.
Social Sciences, Teacher Education, and Journalism Fields: History and Geography are familiar pairings. However, a new subject — Economics and Law Education — could become an attractive alternative if Law schools accept it in their admission combinations.
System Risks: Information Inequality and Early Selection Pressure
The most concerning aspect of this transition is not exam difficulty but inequality in access to strategic information.
In major cities like Hanoi and Saigon, private tutoring systems have quickly adapted. College counseling centers provide combination analysis, score projections, and even use AI (artificial intelligence) to suggest subject selection strategies based on academic records. A personalized counseling session can cost 2 to 5 million Vietnamese dong.
Meanwhile, test-takers in rural and mountainous areas depend almost entirely on their homeroom teachers — people who themselves are struggling with the new curriculum. According to a 2025 survey by Vietnam's Institute of Educational Sciences, only about 40% of high school teachers in provinces outside major cities are confident they fully understand the new admission mechanism.
The result is a two-speed system: advantaged test-takers optimize their choices, disadvantaged test-takers choose emotionally or follow the crowd. If most classmates choose Physics-Chemistry, a test-taker actually better suited for History-Geography may get swept along without realizing they're narrowing their own opportunities.
Perspective from the Vietnamese Community in the US
With approximately 2.3 million people of Vietnamese origin in the United States — according to the 2023 US Census — the story of high school graduation exams in Vietnam is far from foreign. A significant proportion of Viet Kieu families still maintain close ties with the domestic education system, particularly among two groups:
First, families with children currently in secondary school in Vietnam planning to study in the US after graduation. For this group, the 2026 graduation exam takes on dual significance: it's both a graduation requirement and potentially impacts study visa applications (F-1) if the test-taker plans to study at a Vietnamese university first before transferring to the US. Low graduation exam scores or unsuitable subject combinations could complicate credit transfer processes.
Second, grandparents, aunts, and uncles in the US — particularly in concentrated communities in Little Saigon (Orange County, California), San Jose, and Houston — often play roles as education sponsors for relatives in Vietnam. Education remittances are an underreported but very real money flow: from tutoring fees, to study materials, to career counseling costs. The increased complexity of the new exam could push advisory and preparation costs higher, meaning overseas families must transfer more money home.
Another noteworthy trend: increasingly more high school graduates in Vietnam choose the path of community college in the US rather than universities in Vietnam. For this group, the graduation exam score matters just enough — but choosing the right subjects still affects real academic capacity when arriving in the US. A test-taker choosing Information Technology and Foreign Language (English) will have a stronger foundation for STEM programs at community college than one choosing History and Geography.
The 2018 Program: Personalization Ideal or Untested Experiment?
The 2018 General Education Program introduced by Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training was framed with a philosophy of shifting from "teaching knowledge" to "developing competencies and qualities." In theory, allowing test-takers to self-select exam subjects reflects a personalized learning philosophy — a trend common in international education, from the IB (International Baccalaureate) system to Britain's A-Level model.
However, there's a fundamental difference: in IB or A-Level systems, students choose subjects from grade 11 (even grade 10) and spend two years studying in depth. In Vietnam, though the program allows differentiation from grade 10, actual implementation in many schools — particularly public schools in disadvantaged areas — remains generalized. Students "choose" subjects on paper, but the quality of specialized teaching doesn't differ significantly from before.
This creates a paradox: the exam expects test-takers to demonstrate specialized competencies through chosen subjects, but many students haven't actually received specialized training. The 2026 cohort's exam results will be the first major test of this entire new education philosophy.
Signals for the Labor Market and Vocational Training
One underexplored consequence: the new exam structure could inadvertently reshape human resource flows in the medium term. If the majority of test-takers choose natural science and foreign language subjects (based on perception that STEM and economics fields offer better earning prospects), social sciences and humanities fields will face recruitment shortages.
According to data from Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, in the 2025 exam (the final year of the old system), only about 30% of test-takers chose the Social Sciences combination. With the new mechanism, this number could fall further if test-takers realize History and Geography aren't in the admission combinations for most "hot" fields.
It's worth noting that many countries have experienced similar phenomena: when exam systems create incentives for students to concentrate on STEM, human resources for education, journalism, history, and public administration decline. South Korea and Japan had to adjust admission policies to rebalance after many years.
The Role of Foreign Language: Safety Card or Psychological Trap?
A common prediction on Vietnamese education forums: Foreign Language (primarily English) will be the most popular elective subject in the 2026 exam. The reason is clear — English appears in most popular university entrance tracks (Group D1, Group A1, and many new combinations).
However, this could also be a trap. When too many test-takers choose English, competition intensifies. Meanwhile, a test-taker choosing a less common subject (like Information Technology or Technology) but scoring high could have an advantage in programs using rare combinations.
This is a classic game theory problem: each individual's optimal choice depends on everyone else's choices. And since no one knows in advance how all test-takers will distribute their choices, every strategy carries an element of gambling.
Conclusion: The New Exam System Needs a New Advisory Ecosystem
The 2026 high school graduation exam is more than just an exam — it's the first large-scale social experiment of Vietnam's reformed general education program. Its success or failure will be measured by multiple metrics: graduation rates, the fit between subject choice and admission fields, and most importantly — whether the system reduces or increases educational inequality.
For Viet Kieu families monitoring their relatives back home, the most practical advice right now isn't "what subject should you choose" but rather "ensure your family members have access to updated admission information". In a system where rules change and information is asymmetrical, the greatest advantage doesn't lie in academic performance but in the ability to make informed decisions.
As for Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, the real test isn't the June exam — it's whether the ministry can be transparent and timely in publishing admission plans so that millions of test-takers don't have to choose in the dark.