The Education and Manpower Bureau (now known as the Education Bureau) announced in 2005 that the three-year senior secondary education system was implemented at Secondary Four in September 2009. Under the new academic system, all students are expected to complete three years of junior secondary education followed by three years of senior secondary education. Students entering Secondary One in September 2006 sit for the first Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination in 2012, after completing six years of secondary education. In 2012, 72,876 candidates entered for the examination. 71,762 of them are school candidates and 1,114 are private candidates (as of 17 Nov 2011). Please click here for details of registration statistics.

Most school candidates take four core subjects (Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and Liberal Studies), plus two or three elective subjects in the HKDSE. The HKDSE makes use of Standards-referenced Reporting of assessments. Standards-referencing aims at reporting candidates' results against a set of prescribed levels of achievement based on typical performance of candidates at those levels. For each of the levels, a set of descriptors has been developed that describes what the typical candidate performing at this level is able to do. Candidate's results indicate the standards achieved in terms of knowledge and skills regardless of the performance of the other candidates taking the same examination. This reporting system also enables stakeholders to understand explicitly what the candidates know and can do when they have achieved a certain level of performance. The results are expressed in terms of five levels of performance, of which 5 is the highest and 1 the lowest. The Level 5 candidates with the best performance will be awarded a 5**, and the next top group awarded a 5*. A performance below Level 1 will be labelled as "Unclassified".

The HKEAA has produced a series of HKDSE Examination publications to provide more information on examination regulations and assessments, including the HKDSE Standards-referenced Reporting Information Packages of individual subjects with level descriptors and samples of student performance. These publications are available for sale in the HKEAA online bookstore and at the Wan Chai and San Po Kong offices. For the contents and various ways of using the Information Packages, please refer to the following leaflet:
HKDSE Standards-referenced Reporting Information Packages Leaflet

In addition, a series of HKDSE booklets are also available for download:
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education ( HKDSE)  Examination Booklet
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination- Grading Procedures and Standards-referneced Reporting Booklet
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination- Information on School-based Assessment Booklet
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination- Moderation of School-based Assessment Scores Booklet
HKDSE Examination Quality Assurance Framework Booklet (full version / simplified version)
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination- Local & International Recognition Booklet