"Secondary Education | AboutHK.Com - more information about HK"

Secondary education in Hong Kong

is largely based on the English schooling system, with single-sex education being widespread.

In Form 4, most students of grammar schools are required to choose between streams, namely "Science", "Arts" and "Commerce", depending on the school policy. This end of Form 5 leads to Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE). The exam is equivalent to the UK"s GCSEs or O-levels exams.

Students obtaining a satisfactory grade in the HKCEE will be promoted to Form 6. The Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) then acts as the de facto university entrance examination akin to the UK"s GCE A-levels. At this level streaming is even more rigidly specialized dividing into Mathematics/Engineering stream, Biology/Medical stream or Arts stream for example.

Prerequisites for university admissions include Grade "E" or better in the HKALE Chinese Language and Culture and Use of English subjects. The Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) determines admission to tertiary institutions largely based on HKALE results. In addition, students achieving more than 6 "A"s in their HKCEEs are eligible to apply for early admissions through the Early Admissions Scheme (EAS) including The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).