VNU has long delivered special high school programs for gifted students in natural sciences and foreign languages. VNU University of Science offers 5 programs: Mathematics, Informatics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. In addition, VNU University of Foreign Languages and International studies offers 6 language programs: English, Russian, French, Chinese, German and Japanese. Both programs take enrollments from the whole country. Every year about 800 students complete their special high school programs and proceed to special, international-standard undergraduate programs or continue their study overseas.

These two gifted high schools have become cradles of discovery, fostering gifted students from Vietnam. The brand and prestige of these schools are confirmed by the quality of training both domestically and overseas. Students of both schools form the core of the national excellence teams, the national team that attends the International Science Olympiads. Many students have won prizes in international competitions: 59 gold, 72 silver and 70 bronze medals in International Olympiads; 8 gold, 17 silver and 15 bronze medals in Asia-Pacific Olympiads. Some students later became famous scientists, such as Professor Ngo Bao Chau, who entered the Fields award for Mathematics in 2010. The gifted high schools are also an excellent source of students for famous universities at home and abroad for high quality training programs.

In addition to these two high schools, in 2016, the High School of Education Science (HES) under VNU University of Education was established. HES is dedicated to becoming a place of excellence and incubation of young talent via cutting-edge educational technology, pioneering the reformation of general education in Vietnam.