logo
14 years of DSE: how Hong Kong has performed in its university entrance exams

14 years of DSE: how Hong Kong has performed in its university entrance exams

Students in Hong Kong have received their results for the Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (DSE) – the local university entrance exam taken after six years of secondary schooling.
This year's exams saw 16 students with perfect scores, a record since the DSE's launch in 2012. It included the second-ever 'ultimate top scorer', who achieved the highest marks among all top candidates. He was also the first cross-border high-flyer.
While 129 students have achieved top marks over the past 14 years, there are also thousands who score 'zero' every year. South China Morning Post examined the exams, taking a look at its history and a little trivia behind the DSE.
DSE 2025: 11 of 16 top scorers plan to study medicine in Hong Kong
1. Why was the DSE launched?
Before 2012, the city's students took two major university entrance exams: the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) for Form Five pupils and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), also known as the A-levels, for Form Seven students.
The last HKCEE was held in 2011, and the final HKALE in 2012 – the same year as the first DSE exams.
This marked a transition from a British-style education system to a new model, commonly known as the '3+3+4' academic structure: three years of junior secondary education, three years of senior secondary education and four years of university education.
The change was also made to reduce students' stress by consolidating the two exams into one.
Most DSE subjects are graded on a seven-level scale, from level 1 to 5**. Students who achieve level 5 in a subject are graded as 5, 5* or 5**.
Audrey Wong (centre), the Diocesan Girls' School top scorer, with her parents. Her father, Albert Wong, was also a top scorer in the HKCEE, achieving 10 As in 1992. Photo: Elson Li
2. Which schools have the most top scorers?
From 2012 to 2025, a total of 129 top scorers were recorded across 43 schools.
Before 2024, top scorers referred to students who attained a perfect score of 5** in all seven subjects that most students take, namely the core subjects of Chinese, English, mathematics, liberal studies and three other electives.
Since 2024, top scorers refer to those who also received the 'attained' status for citizenship and social development alongside perfect scores in the other six subjects.
From 2012 to this year, the top three schools with the most top scorers were St Paul's Co-educational College, with 22 students, followed by the Diocesan Girls' School and Queen's College, both tied at 15 top scorers each.
DSE 2025: What to do if you're disappointed with your results
Super scorers refer to students who receive the maximum mark in all subjects and an additional 5** in one of the two optional extended modules of maths.
There are at least 48 such students in the history of the exam, with St Paul's Co-educational College again taking the crown, with 13 of its students earning the title. It is followed by Queen's College and Diocesan Girls' School, tied at five each, and four from Diocesan Boys' School.
Under normal circumstances, students are only allowed to take a maximum of eight papers in the DSE. But some apply to take nine papers instead of the usual six to seven and have managed to get perfect scores.
Throughout the history of the DSE, there have been two 'ultimate top scorers' achieving this academic feat – one in 2018 from La Salle College and another this year at the Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club College.
The ultimate top scorer this year was Wang Haibo, a student from Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club College in Sai Wan Ho. He achieved perfect scores of 5** in all eight papers and an attained grade in citizenship and social development. Photo: May Tse
3. What about those who score poorly?
Candidates who score less than level 1 will get 'UNCL' on their report cards – 'unclassified', commonly known as 'a zero score'.
The DSE's 2012 launch year recorded the highest percentage – 5.9 per cent – of candidates who scored zero marks in the four core and 19 elective academic subjects. This number was followed by 5.6 per cent this year and 5.3 per cent in 2013.
4. Who are the oldest and youngest exam takers?
The oldest exam takers were aged 71 – one sat the DSE in 2023 and another took it this year.
The youngest candidate was Bryan Leung Chi-yan, a nine-year-old student who took the mathematics and mathematics extended part module 2 (algebra and calculus), which is commonly known as M2 in the city. In 2024, Leung got 5* in the compulsory part and a 5** in the extended module.
How to mentally prepare yourself for results day
5. Which subjects have the highest and lowest university entry rates?
The South China Morning Post analysed core and elective academic subject data from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority over a decade, from 2015 to 2024.
Citizenship and social development was excluded from the calculation as it did not offer grades and was only established in 2024.
The core subject with the highest rate of passing university entry requirements was the compulsory component of maths, with an average of 81.3 per cent of candidates attaining level 2 or above in the subject. This year, the passing rate was 83.4 per cent.
Queen's College students are handed their DSE results. Photo: Eugene Lee
In contrast, English language was the biggest hurdle, as only an average of 52.6 per cent could cross the threshold at level 3 between 2015 and 2024. The rate this year was 53.6 per cent.
For academic elective subjects, an average of nearly 96 per cent of candidates across the decade could attain level 2 in chemistry, followed by music at 95 per cent and history at 94 per cent.
Only 87.3 per cent passed chemistry this year, almost 10 percentage points lower than the decade average. About 93.4 per cent passed history, and around 98.3 per cent of candidates passed music this year.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Chinese woman raised in rescue centre for 9 years attends prestigious graduate school
Chinese woman raised in rescue centre for 9 years attends prestigious graduate school

South China Morning Post

time42 minutes ago

  • South China Morning Post

Chinese woman raised in rescue centre for 9 years attends prestigious graduate school

A young Chinese woman, who grew up at a rescue centre, received an admission letter to a prestigious graduate school, expressing her gratitude to her unique family of social workers. The 23-year-old, known by the nickname Liang, has lived at the Yangpu District rescue centre in Shanghai for nine years. After her father passed away from illness when she was five and her mother went missing, she was placed in the centre. Initially, an elderly couple served as her foster family, but they had to terminate their agreement in 2015 due to personal issues, leading to Liang's return to the rescue centre for children in need. The social workers at the centre treated Liang as if she were their own daughter. However, Liang faced challenges as she lacked a hukou, a residency permit necessary for accessing higher education in Shanghai, because she was born out of wedlock. Liang, now 23, has lived at the Yangpu District rescue centre in Shanghai for nine years, following the death of her father and the disappearance of her mother. Photo: Until recently, children born to unmarried parents were prohibited from being registered with a hukou in China. Li Fuqiang, the former head of the centre, played a crucial role in helping Liang prepare her documents and obtain a hukou, allowing her to enrol in a senior secondary school. The staff in the rescue centre's canteen ensured Liang received nutritious meals, while centre drivers transported her to school, consciously keeping their distance to avoid embarrassing her in front of classmates unaware of her background.

Why are urban Chinese like my friend falling for guoxue scams?
Why are urban Chinese like my friend falling for guoxue scams?

South China Morning Post

time5 hours ago

  • South China Morning Post

Why are urban Chinese like my friend falling for guoxue scams?

It all began with a WeChat message from my friend. We hadn't seen each other in a while. She had left Beijing for a quieter, more remote town and her social media updates suggested she was diving deeper into guoxue – 'national studies', or the study of traditional Chinese culture – Buddhist philosophy and other spiritual pursuits. Her text read: 'You should join our reading group. We're studying classical Chinese texts. You will definitely love it.' She had been going through a rough patch: burnout at work, a deep sense of disorientation. I admired her for trying to connect with something deeper. Out of curiosity and genuine concern, I agreed to join. But a sense of unease gnawed at me. The trend of guoxue, framed as a path to enlightenment, had always unsettled me. Something about it seemed too commercialised and packaged. In my first video session with the reading group, we were told to introduce ourselves. An older woman who seemed to hold a position of authority spoke last. 'It's so good to see young people here,' she said. 'These days, no one reads any more. But you all – you have the time. Life is more than just drinking and eating.' Her words carried a quiet disdain, as if fundamental human joys were distractions from something greater. As if nourishing the body, sharing meals, enjoying small pleasures – things that ground us in the world – were lesser pursuits. After two more sessions, I couldn't continue. What pushed me over the edge was a new requirement: we were to record ourselves reading the founder's book out loud and submit these recordings for review. No discussion. No questions. Just repetition. Supposedly, this would deepen our understanding – though how exactly, no one explained. As a philosophy major trained in the Western tradition, I found this deeply frustrating. The purpose of engaging with a text should be to analyse, question and discuss its ideas. But here, those very acts were forbidden. I told my friend I wanted to leave. She said she needed to check with her superior first. That response alone spoke volumes.

6 Chinese university students drown on mine field trip in Inner Mongolia
6 Chinese university students drown on mine field trip in Inner Mongolia

South China Morning Post

time2 days ago

  • South China Morning Post

6 Chinese university students drown on mine field trip in Inner Mongolia

Six university students drowned in an industrial tank during a field trip to a mining operation owned by China's most prestigious gold producing company, according to state news agency Xinhua. One teacher was also injured in the incident, which occurred on Wednesday morning at China National Gold Group's Wunugetushan copper-molybdenum mine in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, it said. The students, from Northeastern University in Liaoning province, drowned after a grating panel gave way and they fell into a flotation tank. They were pulled from the tank in the mine's processing plant, but could not be revived, according to Xinhua. The report did not give further details about the victims or the incident. State broadcaster CCTV said the regional government would launch an investigation into the incident. The tank is used to process ore. Photo: Handout According to the official Jimu News in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the victims were in their third year and majoring in mineral processing engineering.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store