The next ULIS sittings and their deadlines
The next two VSTEP.3-5 sittings at ULIS (University of Languages and International Studies, VNU Hanoi) are Saturday 14 November 2026, registration closing at 23:59 on Wednesday 4 November, and Saturday 12 December 2026, registration open from 12 November to 2 December. The fee is 1,800,000 VND per candidate, paid by bank transfer through the ULIS registration portal. Those facts come from the ULIS 2026 administration plan and the 14 November registration notice, both re-read on 21 October 2026. The one rule that catches people out: ULIS stops taking applications once a session is full, so the deadline is the latest you can register, not a promise of a seat.
| Sitting | Register and pay | Status on 21 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 14 Nov 2026 | 14 Oct to 23:59 Wed 4 Nov 2026 | Open on the portal; notice posted 4 Oct 2026 |
| Sat 12 Dec 2026 | 12 Nov to 2 Dec 2026 | In the 2026 plan; separate notice not yet posted |
- Your registration counts only after the online form and a successful bank transfer.
- ULIS does not run a session with fewer than 100 registered candidates; applications then move to the next sitting.
- The portal stops accepting applications once a session has enough candidates.
The full ULIS 2026 calendar, and what to expect for 2027
ULIS published its whole 2026 calendar on 15 December 2025. Every sitting is on a Saturday, and registration closes nine or ten days before the test. The plan also fixes three other milestones for each sitting: candidate numbers and rooms are published three days before the test, results three to five days after it, and certificates 14 working days after it.
| No. | Test date (Saturday) | Online registration and payment | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 Jan 2026 | 17 Dec 2025 to 7 Jan 2026 | Held |
| 2 | 14 Mar 2026 | 14 Feb to 4 Mar 2026 | Held |
| 3 | 4 Apr 2026 | 9 Mar to 25 Mar 2026 | Held |
| 4 | 23 May 2026 | 23 Apr to 13 May 2026 | Held |
| 5 | 4 Jul 2026 | 4 Jun to 24 Jun 2026 | Held |
| 6 | 15 Aug 2026 | 15 Jul to 5 Aug 2026 | Held |
| 7 | 12 Sep 2026 | 12 Aug to 3 Sep 2026 | Held |
| 8 | 10 Oct 2026 | 10 Sep to 1 Oct 2026 | Held; results notice posted 12 Oct |
| 9 | 14 Nov 2026 | 14 Oct to 4 Nov 2026 | Registration open |
| 10 | 12 Dec 2026 | 12 Nov to 2 Dec 2026 | Opens 12 Nov |
2027. ULIS had not published any 2027 date when we checked on 21 October 2026. The only guide is last year's pattern: a full-year plan posted in mid-December, ten Saturday sittings, no sitting in February or June, and registration windows of two to three weeks closing nine or ten days before each test. Treat that as a pattern, not a promise. If you need a certificate early in 2027, the safest move is the 12 December 2026 sitting. We will add the 2027 dates to this page and to our exam dates calendar as soon as ULIS posts them.
The 1,800,000 VND fee, refunds and other charges
The ULIS fee for VSTEP.3-5 in 2026 is 1,800,000 VND per candidate, the same in the 2026 plan and the 14 November notice. It covers one sitting of all four skills. The other charges and rules that sit around it:
| Item | ULIS rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Test fee | 1,800,000 VND per candidate, bank transfer through the portal | 2026 plan; 14 Nov notice |
| Withdrawal | 50 per cent refund if you withdraw at least 10 days before the test; no refund after that. Bring original ID, a withdrawal request and proof of payment | 2026 plan; 14 Nov notice |
| Re-mark (phúc khảo) | 800,000 VND per request, filed online within 3 days of the results | 2026 plan; 14 Nov notice |
| Certificate registration | Not needed if you paid a test fee of 1,200,000 VND or more; needed if you paid less | dangky portal |
The last row explains a line on the portal that confuses people. The portal has a separate "Đăng ký cấp chứng chỉ" (certificate registration) form, and its note says candidates who paid 1,200,000 VND or more do not need to use it. At the 1,800,000 VND fee you are above that line, so your certificate is issued without a separate registration. The portal does not say who pays less than 1,200,000 VND, and we do not guess.
Other universities' fees. Each licensed university sets its own fee. Prep sites quote figures for many centres, but we could not read each centre's current notice this week, so we publish no fee for any centre except ULIS. Read the fee on the notice of the centre you choose, and check its date: a notice from last year is not this year's price.
How to register on vstep.vnu.edu.vn/dangky, step by step
The ULIS registration notice gives three steps. Here they are with the details from the portal and the English plan filled in.
- Prepare two image files. A portrait photo (the English plan says 4 cm by 6 cm, taken no more than six months before you register) and a photo of the front and back of the ID document you will bring on test day: CMND, CCCD or passport. The name and number must match the document you show at the door.
- Register online. Open vstep.vnu.edu.vn/dangky, find the sitting under "Đăng ký dự thi" (for example "VSTEP.3-5 NGÀY THI 14/11/2026", level "Trình độ B1, Trình độ B2, Trình độ C1"), check the free places ("Số lượng còn trống"), and complete the form with your photo and ID images.
- Pay by bank transfer of 1,800,000 VND following the portal's instructions. Follow the transfer instructions exactly. Your application is valid only when the transfer has gone through.
- Keep your registration code (mã hồ sơ). You need it, with your ID number, if you later apply for a re-mark. Results are looked up with your ID number.
- Check your room three days before. ULIS publishes a "Tra cứu số báo danh và phòng thi" notice with a lookup for your candidate number and room. If a detail is wrong, the notice tells you to correct it at the exam room.
The portal lists three general session time frames: morning 06:45 to 11:30, afternoon 13:00 to 17:30 and evening 19:00 to 21:30. It notes these are general frames only; your exact start time comes with the room notice. Do not book travel or a shift at work until you have seen it.
Test day at ULIS: arrival, ID and what you cannot bring
The rules below are from the 2026 plan and the room-lookup notice for the 10 October 2026 sitting, which is the most recent one published. The next notice may differ in detail, so read yours.
| Rule | What ULIS says |
|---|---|
| Arrival | For 10 October, candidates had to be at the exam room by 06:50. Arrive 20 minutes early to leave belongings at the deposit area. The 2026 plan says late arrivals are not admitted. |
| Venue | Building B3, ULIS, 2 Pham Van Dong, Cau Giay, Hanoi; the 10 October rooms were on floors 3 and 4. |
| ID | The original CMND, CCCD or passport you registered with. Without it you are not allowed into the room. |
| Banned items | Phones, recording and transmitting devices, documents, and wristwatches. Pens are provided by the exam board. |
| The computer test | ULIS attaches a guide to the steps of the computer test ("Hướng dẫn các bước làm bài thi") to the room notice. Read it the night before so the interface is not new on the day. |
The Speaking test is done at the computer and recorded, which surprises candidates who expected an examiner across a table. Practise speaking to a screen with a timer, not to a friend who nods. The VSTEP Speaking practice bank gives you full three-part sets to do that way.
A countdown from registration to certificate
Most VSTEP candidates have a deadline of their own: a graduation file, a master's application, a job file. Work backwards from it. The table applies the official ULIS rules to the two remaining 2026 sittings. The registration dates are ULIS's; the results range and certificate date are our arithmetic from the stated rules (3 to 5 days; 14 working days, weekends excluded), not dates ULIS has announced.
| Milestone | 14 November sitting | 12 December sitting |
|---|---|---|
| Registration opens | 14 Oct (open now) | 12 Nov |
| Last day for a 50% refund (10 days before) | 4 Nov | 2 Dec |
| Registration closes | 23:59 Wed 4 Nov | 2 Dec |
| Room and candidate number published (3 days before) | about 11 Nov | about 9 Dec |
| Results (3 to 5 days after) | about 17 to 19 Nov | about 15 to 17 Dec |
| Re-mark window | 3 days from the results notice | 3 days from the results notice |
| Certificate (14 working days after) | about Thu 3 Dec | about Thu 31 Dec |
Real timings can be a little faster. For the 12 September 2026 sitting, ULIS posted results on 17 September and opened certificate pickup on 29 September, before the 14-working-day mark. Certificates are handed out at Room 201B, Building B3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and you must collect within the window ULIS announces. The full process, including re-marks and verification, is on our results and certificates page.
Other licensed universities: how they publish dates and fees
ULIS is the home of the VSTEP format: its page on the VSTEP exam says the format was built at ULIS, that the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) assigned ULIS to run these exams, and that schools across the country running English proficiency exams follow this standard. Other universities are licensed to run VSTEP-format tests too. We could not locate the current MOET list of licensed units this week, so this page gives no count and no national table of centres. Lists on prep sites are not sourced to MOET; treat them as leads, not facts.
Each licensed university publishes its own calendar, usually as a notice ("thông báo") on its testing or foreign-language centre site. One example we read on 21 October 2026: the assessment centre of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, CLC HUST, lists candidate lists for VSTEP sittings on 3 and 4 October and on 13 and 14 October 2026. That shows a pattern you will see elsewhere too: some centres run a sitting over two days, not one Saturday.
When you read any centre's notice, check these points before you pay:
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Exam name and levels: VSTEP.3-5, Bậc 3 to Bậc 5 | Some centres also run other tests (HUST's centre also runs TOEIC, for example); make sure it is the B1 to C1 test you need. |
| Date of the notice and the year in the fee | An old notice is the most common source of a wrong fee. |
| Computer or paper, and how Speaking is run | At ULIS Speaking is recorded at the computer; another centre may differ, and you should practise for the format you will get. |
| Registration window and minimum numbers | Like ULIS, a centre may cancel or move a small session. |
| Results and certificate timing | Your own deadline depends on it; ULIS's 14 working days is not a national rule. |
| Who is eligible | Some sittings are for the university's own students only. |
If your university or employer only accepts certificates from particular centres, that rule overrides convenience. Ask before you register.
Which sitting to book: a decision table
This is TalkDrill's judgement, based on the official dates above and on the preparation time the target level usually needs. Adjust it to your own mock scores (our score page shows how to turn four skill scores into an average).
| Your situation on 21 October 2026 | Our suggestion |
|---|---|
| Mock average already at or above your target, deadline in December | Register for 14 November now. It leaves room for a re-mark or the 12 December sitting if something goes wrong. |
| Mock average half a point below target | Book 12 December when registration opens on 12 November, and use the six weeks for the skill with the cheapest half point. Our six-week B2 roadmap is built for exactly this gap. |
| Mock average a full level below target | Do not pay for a sitting yet. Study until a timed mock is at target, then book the next published date. |
| Deadline before the end of November | Only the 14 November sitting gives a ULIS result before December, and its certificate is due around 3 December. Ask whether the online result is enough for your file, and check other licensed centres' notices for earlier dates. |
Between registering and test day, speak every day. Ten minutes on TalkDrill role-play practice, with the AI playing the examiner on a Part 2 or Part 3 task from the topic development guide, does more for a recorded Speaking test than another week of vocabulary lists. Everything else on VSTEP is on the VSTEP hub.