The Tuyên Quang Exam Scandal: Organized Fraud and the Search for Fairness

The Ministry of Education and Training has acknowledged that organized misconduct occurred at Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted. [1] However, the extent of the operation, the key orchestrators, and the full scope of responsibility remain incompletely answered. 

Before these issues could be resolved, the ministry’s decision to cancel all results and require all 328 candidates to retake their examinations renewed public confusion regarding the fairness of the response.

The scandal came to light after social media users noted an unusually high score distribution. Out of 328 candidates, 147 received perfect scores in mathematics, accounting for nearly 45% of the total, while 299 candidates, or more than 91%, scored 9 or above. [2] The examination site’s average mathematics score of 9.58 was the highest nationwide, prompting an immediate investigation. 

Authorities found that examination site head Trần Thị Thu Hằng instructed proctors to allow Nguyễn Hà Duy, a mathematics teacher and site secretary, into rooms to aid candidates. [3] The investigation further revealed that other teachers provided answers in multiple subjects, candidates shared answers, and parents coordinated with teachers. 

By Aug. 5, authorities had charged 29 people with “abusing positions and powers in the performance of official duties.”

The actions of Trần Thị Thu Hằng have drawn skepticism and scrutiny. In a July 10 Facebook post, educator Thái Hạo questioned how a vice principal from a different school could command host-school teachers and proctors to violate regulations. [4] He questioned her motives and suggested the possibility of a broader arrangement involving higher authorities or cross-school collusion to benefit respective students.

Despite these unresolved issues, the Ministry of Education and Training announced on Aug. 5 the cancellation of all results for the 328 candidates. Deputy Minister Phạm Ngọc Thưởng explained that the original results could no longer be considered honest, objective, or fair, and because individual responsibility was not yet clear, holding new examinations was necessary. [5] 

Col. Nguyễn Tuấn Hưng, deputy director of the Security Investigation Department (A09), noted that while all candidates were over 18 and legally capable, investigators were primarily focusing on the examination board’s misconduct. [6]

This blanket cancellation provoked public opposition and  anger. [7] 

Atty. Lê Ngọc Luân challenged the legal and ethical basis of the decision in an Aug. 5 Facebook post, outlining three major problems: [8] 

• First, if some candidates aged 18 or older deliberately cheated with help from adults, what legal provision allows them to retake the examinations? 
• Second, if the candidates who cheated in Tuyên Quang are allowed another attempt while those who violated rules elsewhere receive no such opportunity, what law justifies that difference? Is it fair?
• Third, the ministry must also explain the legal basis for canceling the results of candidates who did not cheat and requiring them to sit the examinations again.

Lê Ngọc Luân argued that unless the ministry could identify a specific legal basis and adequately address those questions, its blanket decision to cancel the results and allow every candidate to retake the exams was inconsistent with the law.

Given that investigators have identified complicit teachers, coordinating parents, and confessing students, the public questions why authorities cannot separate honest candidates from violators. Educator Thái Hạo stated on Aug. 5: 

“I firmly believe that, after a month of investigation, the authorities must have made preliminary findings and compiled a list of candidates who violated the rules, even if it is not yet complete. Allowing everyone to retake the exams is therefore unreasonable.” [9] 

He also argued that the ministry should publish the names of candidates who violated the rules and bar them from the examinations. The responsibility of those heading the relevant boards and departments must also be examined, he said, because leaders “must bear responsibility for allowing such a serious case to occur.” 

Conversely, Atty. Hoàng Hà supported the retests as “the least harmful solution in a situation where every option is imperfect,” though he criticized the ministry for failing to justify why all subjects must be retaken. [10] On his personal Facebook page, he wrote: 

“Why must all 328 candidates retake every subject when investigators found the most prominent misconduct in mathematics? Have investigators established that interference occurred during multiple examination sessions, or does the ministry believe the entire operation of the examination site was compromised to the point that no subject’s results remain reliable?”

Perhaps these gaps in the information that officials provided have turned an improvised remedy into a source of public frustration and confusion.

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Much about the cheating at Tuyên Quang High School for the Gifted remains unclear, particularly whether responsibility ended at the examination site or if instructions came from higher authorities. 

Furthermore, it remains uncertain whether the ministry required all 328 candidates to retake their examinations simply because it could not identify the cheaters or if other undisclosed motives were involved. 

Regardless of the answers, the heaviest burden falls on honest candidates who relied on their abilities. Despite no wrongdoing being established against them, their results have been canceled, forcing them back into the examination room. 

With the decision’s legal basis and fairness still contested, the public is left to wonder if penalizing everyone for an organized cheating operation can truly be considered a fair response.

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Thúc Kháng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 11, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.