The royal examinations were difficult by design. Only 185 examinations were held between 1076 and 1919, and only 2,906 candidates ever reached the goal of a doctorate. On average, 70,000-80,000 candidates entered the regional competitions, but only around fifteen became doctoral laureates after the final examination in the king's palace.
In the beginning, the examination system was not well established. The first national exam was held in Thang Long during the reign of King Ly Nhan Tong (1072-1127). During the Ly Dynasty, the intervals between exams ranged from eleven to forty-two years. Candidates who failed an exam might have to wait several decades before taking the next one. During the Tran Dynasty, in 1239, the king shortened the interval between exams to seven years. In 1434, exams began to be held every three years. This practice continued through the Nguyen Dynasty until the last central-level exam in 1919.
King Le Thanh Tong revised the rules for the regional and national exams, making them stricter and more detailed. To become eligible for the national exam, a candidate first had to pass a regional exam, which was organised at one school in each cluster of four or five neighbouring provinces. For instance, candidates from Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son, and Cao Bang Provinces took their regional exam at the Kinh Bac Examination School. Each regional exam lasted several months and consisted of four stages. After each stage, the candidates waited ten days for the results; only those who passed could continue on to the subsequent stage. Those who passed all the regional stages were conferred the title of cử nhân (Bachelor's Degree) or tú tài (Baccalaureate), depending on their level of success.
Winners of a Bachelor's Degree were entitled to attend the next national exam. But transport to the capital city was anything but easy. A candidate from central Nghe An Province, for example, had to walk 300 kilometres to Thang Long (or nearly the same distance to Hue, after 1802), carrying food, a tent, a small bamboo bed, and writing materials. Along the way, the traveller risked robbery, tiger attacks and snake bites. If they survived the trip, most candidates chose to stay for some years to study at the National University before sitting for the royal exam.
Similar to the regional exams, the national exam also included four stages. Those who passed all the four stages became tiến sĩ (Doctoral Laureate) and proceeded to take the đình, or palace exam. The đình exam was held in the king' s palace. The king himself, with the help of senior mandarins, set the questions and marked the papers. He entertained the laureates at his palace on the day the results were announced, awarding caps and gowns and then taking the laureates on a tour of the royal garden and streets in the capital. Afterwards, they returned to their home villages to pay respect to their ancestors and wait for assignments.