Vietnamese High School Class Achieves Record Admissions to China's Top Universities

A Chinese-language class at the Foreign Language Specialized School, under the University of Languages and International Studies at Vietnam National University Hanoi, has achieved a remarkable feat, sending eight students to China's top universities, Tsinghua and Peking. The school announced this on September 10. Six students are heading to Tsinghua University, while two will attend Peking University. Both institutions are highly ranked globally, with Tsinghua placing 14th and Peking 17th in this year's QS World University Rankings. The graduating class of 2023-2026, comprising 49 students, is the largest in its grade level at the school. The school administration described the eight admissions as a record for a single class in Vietnam, as the country typically sends only 10 to 20 students annually to these two universities combined. Furthermore, 16 other students from the same class secured study-abroad scholarships, bringing the total number of students from this class with placements in China, the U.S., and New Zealand to 24. Three students received substantial support packages worth approximately $304,000 from U.S. universities. Do Thi Ngoc Chi, a vice principal, attributed these outstanding results to the school's pedagogical emphasis on independent study, multidimensional thinking, and adaptability to change. Over the past three years, students from this class have won 13 national-level prizes in Chinese language competitions. Students at the school specialize in one primary language while also studying a second language. Most graduates achieve HSK 6, the highest level of the six-tier Chinese proficiency test, and many hold IELTS scores between 8.0 and 8.5. Established in 1969, the Foreign Language Specialized School is Vietnam's sole high school dedicated to teaching seven foreign languages: English, Russian, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, and Korean. This year, the school is admitting 630 students into the 10th grade. This exceptional achievement underscores the effectiveness of Vietnam's specialized education system in fostering high-level linguistic and academic talent, particularly in languages with strong regional ties. It also reflects the growing appeal of top Chinese universities to Vietnamese students, driven by academic excellence and potential future career opportunities in a rapidly developing region.