A progress report on the New Senior Secondary (NSS) Curriculum and Assessment Review jointly conducted by the HKEAA, the Education Bureau and the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) has been released.

Recommendations leading to subsequent changes to the HKDSE Examinations for 2014 to 2016 were addressed in the report and have been endorsed by the Curriculum Development Council and the Public Examinations Board of the HKEAA. These included adjusting the curriculum contents and examination arrangements and streamlining the School-based Assessment (SBA).

Teachers of various subjects will be updated of the revised assessment framework and the SBA implementation schedule in the coming briefing sessions conducted by the HKEAA and the Education Bureau.

Please click here for the NAS Review Progress Report. For details of the 2014 -2016 HKDSE Examination Assessment Framework, please click here.

Caption:
Dr Tong Chong-sze, Secretary General of the HKEAA introduced recommendations for fine-tuning the NSS curriculum and assessment at a seminar held on 19 April.

 

The results of a benchmarking study to compare the standards between the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the 2012 HKDSE English Language Examination were released in April.

The study revealed that candidates attained level 5** in the HKDSE English Language Examination achieved an overall IELTS band score of 7.51 to 7.77, while candidates with level 3 achieved, which is the minimum English Language requirement for admission to local universities, their standards are between those of Modest Users and Competent Users on the IELTS scale, with an overall IELTS band score of 5.48 to 5.68.

IELTS is the world’s recognised English language test to assess the language ability of candidates who wish to pursue further studies or work where English is the language of communication. The results of this benchmarking study will facilitate universities and employers to understand the English proficiency of the HKDSE candidates.

Please refer to the press release for details.

 

This year most of the HKDSE examination scripts are to be marked onscreen. Two assessment centres in Tseung Kwan O and Shatin have been set up to accommodate the increased marking load and to provide more convenient locations for markers. In addition to the 1,300 workstations offered in six assessment centres throughout the territory, these two new centres will provide an extra hundred workstations during April to June 2013.

Caption:
Locations of the HKEAA assessment centres.

 

As part of its ongoing efforts to achieve recognition of the HKDSE, the HKEAA teamed up with the Education Bureau to visit various North American education institutions in March 2013.

During the tour Mr Rock Chen Chung-nin, Chairman of the HKEAA and Dr Tong Chong-sze, Secretary General of the HKEAA met with the education officials and academics of a number of tertiary institutions, including the University of Waterloo in Toronto and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. The main objective of the visit was to increase awareness of the development of the New Academic Structure and the standard of the HKDSE. So far 28 US and 18 Canadian universities, among 150 tertiary institutions worldwide have published their admission requirements for HKDSE holders.

Caption:
Dr Tong Chong-sze, Secretary General of the HKEAA (Left), Mr Rock Chen Chung-nin, Chairman of the HKEAA (second from left), Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, Secretary for Education (third from right) and the delegation visited the World Education Services in the United States.