HKUEDA FOUNDATION

DSE or HKDSE or Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education is a credential recognized by over 600 tertiary institutions worldwide and hundreds of higher education institutions from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan.

HKDSE is managed and conducted by the HKEAA (Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority)

Entry Qualifications

1. Secondary 6 (or Secondary 6 equivalent) students of the HKDSE participating Schools (subject to prior approval of the HKEAA)
2. Reached the age of 19 (Private Candidate)
3. Completed or is currently pursuing a non-DSE curriculum equivalent to Secondary 6 as determined by the HK Examination and Assessment Authority in the year preceding the examination. (Private Candidate)

HKDSE Subjects

In general, HKDSE candidates would take:

1. Four Core subjects:
   • Chinese Language
   • English Language
   • Mathematics
   • Citizehship and Social Development;
2. Two to Three Elective Subjects (no more than 8 subjects in total) from the list below:

Chinese Literature	Biology	Business, Accounting and Financial Studies
Literature in English	Chemistry	Design and Applied Technology
Chinese History	Physics	Health Management and Social Care
Economics		Information and Communication Technology
Ethics and Religious Studies		Technology and Living
Geography		Music
History		Visual Arts
Tourism and Hospitality Studies		Physical Education

Assessment and Reporting

1. DSE examinations be taken in Chinese or English. For candidates taking examinations in Chinese, they can also choose to answer in writing in traditional or simplified Chinese characters, or use Cantonese or Putonghua to answer in oral examinations.
2. Standards-referenced Reporting is adopted to report candidates’ assessment results with reference to a set of explicit and fixed standards of performance.
3. Except for Citizenship and Social Development, candidates’ performance is reported in the five levels (1-5), with 5 being the highest.
4. The highest-achieving level 5 candidates are awarded level 5**, the next highest-achieving level 5 candidates are awarded level 5* and the remaining level candidates receive simply level 5.
5. Performance below the level 1 standard for a subject is designated as “Unclassified”. Results designated as “Unclassified” or “Unattained” will not be reported on the HKDSE certificate.
6. The language medium used by candidates in the examination will not be recorded on the HKDSE certificate.
7. The HKDSE English Language scores vs International English Language Testing System (IELTS):

extracted from documents and web site of the HKEAA