Ho Chi Minh City announces selection plan for national gifted-student team

Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Education and Training has released its plan to select teams for the 2026-2027 national gifted-student competition.

The selection will cover 12 subjects: literature, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, information technology, English, French, Chinese and Japanese. The tests will follow the current general education curriculum, along with upper-secondary specialized and advanced programs.

Each subject will have two papers held during two morning sessions, with 180 minutes allowed for each paper. The second foreign-language paper will test listening. In information technology, the second paper will require students to program on computers using C++, Pascal or Python.

Students in grades 10, 11 and 12 during the 2026-2027 school year may take part if their academic and conduct results for the 2025-2026 school year are at least good. Specialized schools must nominate at least half of their grade-12 students in the subject they study. For grades 10 and 11, schools may nominate students according to their needs, but no more than half of each grade.

Other high schools may nominate up to five students per subject if they have at least 28 classes, and up to three students per subject if they have fewer. The papers will be marked on a 20-point scale, with selection based on the combined score from both papers. Students must also attend all scheduled training sessions and meet the requirements of tests taken during preparation. Grade-12 students who join the official team and sit the selection examination will be recognized as winning first prize in the city’s 2026-2027 gifted-student competition.