| Under New Academic Structure (NAS), all students are expected to complete three years of junior secondary education followed by three years of senior secondary education. Upon completion of this six-year secondary education, students will take the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), which aims to measure the attainment of students. The HKDSE was administered for the first time in 2012. Most of the candidates are presented by schools.
Most school candidates may take four core subjects (Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and Liberal Studies)^, plus two to three elective subjects from Category A Senior Secondary subjects; Category B Applied Learning subjects or Category C Other Language subjects in the HKDSE.
In line with international standards and to ensure the transparency and explicitness of the results, HKDSE Category A adopts Standards-referenced Reporting of assessment results. Candidates’ achievement under this category is reported against a set of standards divided into five levels (levels 1 to 5), with 5 being the highest. Candidates with the best performance in level 5 are awarded a 5**, and the next top group is awarded a 5*. Attainment below level 1 is designated as “Unclassified”.
The assessment of Category B Applied Learning (ApL) subjects is undertaken by course providers. The results are reported as “Attained” and “Attained with Distinction”. Performance below “Attained” is designated as “Unattained”. Starting from the 2018 HKDSE, the reporting of students' performance in ApL subjects would be further refined from the existing two levels of "Attained" and "Attained with Distinction" to "Attained", "Attained with Distinction (I)" and "Attained with Distinction (II)". Performance of "Attained with Distinction (I)" is comparable to level 3 while "Attained with Distinction (II)" is comparable to level 4 or above of the Category A subjects of the HKDSE. For ApL Chinese (for non-Chinese speaking students), the existing levels of results, i.e. “Attained” and “Attained with Distinction”, will continue to be used. Refinement of these levels would be considered when more data is collected.
For Category C (Other Languages) subjects offered in the 2024 HKDSE and before, question papers of the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) level from Cambridge Assessment International Education (Cambridge International) are used. Marking and grading are conducted by Cambridge International. Results are reported in five grades (a-e) on the HKDSE certificate, with grade e being the lowest and grade a being the highest. Results below grade e are designated as 'Ungraded'.
Starting from the 2025 HKDSE, candidates will be required to take the stipulated language examinations administered in Hong Kong by the official cultural organisations which are the official providers of the language examinations concerned. Candidates should enroll themselves with the examination administrators of the stipulated language examinations. Candidates’ results that meet the stipulated proficiency level will be included in the HKDSE Category C results. For details, please click here.
For examination statistics of the past HKDSE, please click here.
For more details about HKDSE, you may download the following booklets:
The HKEAA has also launched a series of videos to introduce the HKDSE. Please click here to watch the videos online.
Remarks:
^ In 2021, the Curriculum Development Council and the Public Examinations Board of the HKEAA jointly endorsed the proposals for optimising the four senior secondary core subjects (i.e. Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics Compulsory Part, and Citizenship and Social Development in lieu of Liberal Studies) and the phasing out of Combined Science and Integrated Science. The proposals were accepted by the Education Bureau (EDB). The optimising measures which are applicable to the 2024 HKDSE have been implemented from Secondary Four in the 2021/22 school year. Please click here for details.
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