The country’s own high school examination will now only recognise the completion of 12 years of education, rather than use it specifically to enrol students in universities.

“More students are now looking for options of studying foreign programs offered in-country”

The change will give students more flexibility and universities more academic autonomy.

“Many universities have announced their enrolment plans, using different methods to assess students’ ability and to ensure a smooth enrolment process,” said Lien Ta, senior education services manager at the British Council in Vietnam.

“Some institutions with high autonomy will use a combination of having their own assessment methods and using results of the high school graduation examination, while some others just rely on students’ school study reports and results of the examination.”

The university enrolment regulations also captured a market trend that more students are now looking for options of studying foreign programs offered in-country or by local universities.

“This is now time for transnational education programs at the undergraduate level in Vietnam to increase promotion activities,” Ta added.

However, it is likely universities in Vietnam will continue to use national high school exams as a means of assessing candidates.

Some, who have told local media they aren’t completely on board with the new regulations, said that “they had faith in the examination’s results, considering them an important base for making enrolment decisions”.

LightPath Consulting Group’s @HaikeManning says #TNE in #Vietnam is still in the early days but is growing and targeting a segment of society that wants quality education but can’t afford to go abroad. “As people get wealthier, the first thing they spend money on is education”.

— The PIE News (@ThePIENews) May 22, 2020

Vietnam has been one of the Covid-19 response success stories so far but exams will be taking place around two months later than usual this year.

It is considered to be a fast-developing market for both TNE and as a source of international students due to the willingness of its growing middle class to invest in education, with the student market alone increasing by 15% a year, according to market experts GrokGlobal, as discussed in a recent PIE webinar.