Famous universities with a high number of registered applicants saw low rates of exam participation this year.

Nearly 67 per cent of registered applicants took the entrance exams to Foreign Trade University, while 73 per cent took the test for International University.

Military and armed forces universities continued to take the lead in the proportion of registered students taking exams. The People's Police University saw the highest rate of test-takers, just over 94 per cent, followed by the People's Public Security University with 92.9 per cent.

Candidates sit for the entrance examination at HCM City's University of Natural Sciences.

The first phase of the annual national examinations for acceptance to universities concluded on July 5.

Officials said 73 students were caught violating exam regulations, including 48 students who were suspended from exams and seven who were not allowed to take exams because they arrived late.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, all went smoothly. Violations were promptly detected and handled and there were no traffic jams in major cities.

However, many students were surprised at the change in structure of some exams.

Hoang Nam, who took the exam for the Ha Noi University of Construction, said that in previous years, exams included a section where test takers could choose between two questions.

"This year, we had to answer all the questions," he said. "We were not informed of this change in advance."

Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga told Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper that the new format aimed to "help students focus more on answering the questions" without being distracted by the dilemma of which question to tackle.

Ministry officials thanked organisations, individuals and benefactors who provided support for test-takers and their relatives, such as free meals and accommodations.

The second phase of the university entrance exams is scheduled for July 9 and 10.