Some nuclear level density (NLD) and radiative strength function (RSF) models, including three phenomenological NLD and three phenomenological RSF models, and a microscopic model that simultaneously determines the NLD and RSF, have been evaluated based on the experimental two-step gamma-cascade intensities obtained from the 51V(nth, 2γ)52V experiment at the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute. Among the models evaluated, the exact pairing coupled with the independent-particle and phonon-damping models best explains the experimental data and is, thus, considered to be the most credible model to predict the NLD and RSF of 52V. To have a more comprehensive evaluation, forthcoming studies should assess a larger variety of models in particular, those that employ the mean-field Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation, as well as other (nth, 2γ) experiments.