The duration of each ApL course is 180 contact hours, extending over two school years, normally in Secondary 5 (Y1) and Secondary 6 (Y2).

There are six areas of studies:

• Creative Studies
• ^Media and Communication
• Business, Management and Law
• Services
• Applied Science
• Engineering and Production
• *Applied Learning Chinese (for non-Chinese speaking students)

* Starting from the 2014-15 school year, two Applied Learning Chinese courses are introduced to non-Chinese speaking students.
^ Starting from the 2020-21 school year, two Applied Learning English courses are introduced.

All assessments in the ApL subjects comprise six to ten tasks undertaken over the two years of studies. These are stipulated in the form of an Assessment Scheme which includes a brief description of each task, the assessment method, approximate dates for assessments and its contribution to the subject score.