12 hours ago
‘Record-breaking year' for Hong Kong's university entrance exam, as student earns rare ‘ultimate top scorer' title
The city's assessment authorities have praised a 'record-breaking year' for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) examination, as students received their university entrance exam results on Wednesday.
The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) said a total of 16 students earned the title of 'top scorers,' meaning they attained 5** – the highest grade – for at least six subjects in the HKDSE, including the three core subjects of English, Chinese, and mathematics.
The top student was Henry Wang of Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club College in Sai Wan Ho. He received 5** in eight subjects, making him an 'ultimate top scorer.'
He took physics, chemistry, biology, and extended maths as his electives, as well as economics, which he self-studied, according to local media.
It marks only the second time that there has been an 'ultimate top scholar' since the DSE exams began in 2012, replacing the old assessment, the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. The first time was in 2018.
There were 10 'super scorers,' meaning they secured 5** in seven subjects, including an extended maths elective. The remaining five received 5** in six subjects.
Wei Xiangdong, secretary-general of the HKEAA, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the results made this year a 'record-breaking year.'
'In terms of the number of top scorers, this year, I think, is [a] record-breaking year, the highest [in] the history of DSE examinations,' Wei said.
He added, however, that the results were not directly comparable to previous DSE years due to a change in the syllabus that began in 2024.
Last year, the core subject Liberal Studies was replaced by Citizenship and Social Development. While the former was a graded subject, the latter is a pass-or-fail subject.
This means that students needed to secure a 5** in Liberal Studies to be top scorers, while now, they only need to pass the new subject.
Aspiring doctors
According to local media outlets, Wang came to Hong Kong from mainland China when he was three years old. He said he has wanted to be a doctor since he was in Form Four.
He told reporters he did not attend tutorial classes while studying, relying only on his teachers' and friends' guidance.
Wang also said he wished to stay in Hong Kong to study and was not considering going abroad or to the mainland.
Among the 14 schools with top scorers, one school – St. Paul's Co-educational College in Mid-Levels – produced three super scorers.
Two of them, Norris Kung and Calvin Wong, said they hope to go to Cambridge University in the UK. Kung aims to study economics, while Wong wants to pursue climate science, according to local media.
The third student, Adrian Jung, said he wants to study medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).
Across the harbour, Wang Yuen-ting of Sheung Shui's Hong Kong Taoist Association Tang Hin Memorial Secondary School emerged as a top scorer.
A cross-border student who lives in Lo Wu in Shenzhen, Wang Yuen-ting said her parents had enrolled her in schools in Hong Kong since kindergarten because they favoured the city's education system.
An aspiring doctor, she also said she wants to study medicine at CUHK.
'The meaning of life lies in impacting the lives of others. If I become a doctor, I can serve people in society and in turn give meaning to my own life,' she said, according to HK01.
University entrance requirements
Around 42,700 school candidates took part in the DSEs this year, with over 38 per cent meeting the common entrance requirements for local undergraduate university programmes, according to the HKEAA's data.
The requirements are set as attaining at least level 3 in Chinese and English, level 2 in mathematics, and a pass in Citizenship and Social Development.
This was the second year that Citizenship and Social Development was assessed. The subject gradually replaced Liberal Studies starting in 2021, after then chief executive Carrie Lam and some pro-Beijing politicians accused the subject of fuelling the pro-democracy protests and unrest in 2019.
A total of 93.2 per cent of students received a pass in Citizenship and Social Development this year, down 0.9 per cent from the year before.
The pass rate for the new subject was comparable to that of Liberal Studies, the HKEAA's Wei said, adding that the average pass rate for the old subject -meaning a grade of 2 or above – was around 92 per cent.
