Vietnamese University Admission Pathways 2025–2026: A Comparative Mechanics, Equity, and Decision-Framework Synthesis for the Layer-I Series

This paper synthesises the operative Vietnamese university admission pathways for academic year 2025–2026 into a single descriptive-and-normative reference document. Eight pathways are in scope: (1) the kỳ thi tốt nghiệp THPT (THPTQG), restructured under the MOET 2024 plan to a four-subject panel from cycle 2025; (2) the kỳ thi đánh giá năng lực (ĐGNL) at VNU Hanoi (HSA) and VNU HCM (APT); (3) the kỳ thi đánh giá tư duy (ĐGTD / TSA) at HUST; (4) IELTS/SAT/ACT-based admission via xét tuyển ngoại ngữ or as a component of xét tuyển kết hợp; (5) học bạ (transcript-based admission); (6) xét tuyển kết hợp (combined-method); (7) xét tuyển thẳng / ưu tiên (direct / priority admission for HSG-QG laureates, IOI / regionalolympiad medallists, chuyên-school graduates, and prioritypolicy categories); and (8) direct international application to RMIT Vietnam, Fulbright Vietnam, VinUniversity, and BUV. The paper does three things. First, it specifies each pathway's mechanics: eligibility, scoring scale, score-conversion practice, university-side acceptance rules, and application-cycle timeline. Second, it characterises each pathway against five equity-anddesign axes: student profile fit, preparation cost ladder, regional access, gaming risk, and signal strength. Third, it produces a decision framework mapping student profile (academic strengths, region, family financial constraint, target field, target institution tier) onto a primary / secondary / fallback pathway recommendation, with four worked examples. The decision framework is the substantive operational contribution. Equity contestation is acknowledged without adjudication. The document-analysis method follows F2 protocol; no human-subjects data and no minors-involving empirical work are admissible inputs per the program's no-cohort scope pivot.