Briefing Session on the Direction of Development for Business,
Accounting and Financial Studies (BAFS) and the Implementation of the Refined BAFS Curriculum and
Assessment Framework
18 June 2020 (Thursday)
Registration Part 1
Summary of findings and follow-up works of school survey conducted in 2017
The background, rationales and principles for drawing the recommendations
Part 2
The direction of development of BAFS and the implementation of the refined BAFS curriculum and assessment
Support measures for schools Part 3
Updates on the supplementary notes
Updates on the 2023 and 2025 BAFS Assessment Framework
Sample examination papers Q&A Session
* Rundown
*
4
Accounting Strand Compulsory Part (40%)
• Business Environment
• Introduction to Management
• Introduction to Accounting
• Basics of Personal Financial Management (8%)
Elective Part (60%)
• Financial Accounting
• Cost Accounting
Business Management Strand Compulsory Part (40%)
• Business Environment
• Introduction to Management
• Introduction to Accounting
• Basics of Personal Financial Management (8%)
Elective Part (60%)
• Basics of Management
• Financial Management
• Human Resources Management
• Marketing
(75%) (75%)
(25%) (25%)
Introduction to Management
Introduction to Accounting
Streamlining
15% of the learning elements in the compulsory part will be moved to the elective part, and the remaining content for each strand will be streamlined as follows:
Proposed Changes in the BAFS Curriculum Framework (CF)
* School Survey 2017
1) Separate examination papers for the compulsory part of the two strands, with common questions set in Papers 1A & 1B for the common topics in both strands.
2) Adjustment in the exam duration and the number of questions in Paper 1 and Paper 2 on a pro rata basis in response to the change in the curriculum weighting of the compulsory part and the elective part from 40:60 to 25:75.
Component Weighting Duration
(3.5 hours) Public
Examination
Paper 1 Compulsory Part (choose one only) 1A Accounting strand
1B Business Management strand
40% 1 hour
15 minutes Paper 2 Elective Part (choose one only)
2A Accounting strand
2B Business Management strand
60% 2 hours
15 minutes 25%
75%
30 minutes
Proposed Changes in the BAFS Assessment Framework (AF)
* School Survey 2017
6
BAFS was offered 299
BAFS had not been offered 16
Schools ceased offering BAFS 1 (since 2014) 1 (since 2015)
No background information given 1
Total 318
* Findings of School Survey 2017 - Background information
Survey Period: Mid-Jan – early March 2017 No. of
Respondents:
318 / 480 secondary schools Remarks:
5 returned questionnaires were considered invalid with the following reasons:
- Questionnaire was blank
- Questionnaire was completed without school code and school chop
Response Rate: 66.3 %
Degree of agreement about the improvement measures
proposed for the "Accounting Strand"
Neutral 22.6%
Strongly agreed + Agreed
39.0%
Strongly disagreed +
disagreed 32.7%
Blank 5.7%
Degree of agreement about the improvement measures proposed for the "Business Management
Strand”
Neutral 30.2%
Strongly agreed + Agreed
28.0%
Strongly disagreed +
disagreed 19.5%
Blank 22.3%
Degree of agreement about the proposed changes to the offering of BAFS as 2 strands of studies
Degree of agreement about the proposed change of the
weighting of the compulsory part to the elective part of both strands from 40:60 to 25:75
* Findings of School Survey 2017 - Proposed changes in CF
Component Weighting Duration (3.5 hours) Public
Examination
Paper 1 Compulsory Part (choose one only) 1A Accounting strand
1B Business Management strand
40% 1 hour
15 minutes Paper 2 Elective Part (choose one only)
2A Accounting strand
2B Business Management strand
60% 2 hours
15 minutes 25%
75%
30 minutes Neutral
20.5%
Strongly agreed + Agreed
48.7%
Strongly disagreed +
disagreed 26.4%
Blank 4.4%
Degree of agreement about the examination duration of the papers
Neutral 22.0%
Strongly agreed + Agreed
40.0%
Strongly disagreed +
disagreed 33.3%
Blank 4.7%
Degree of agreement about the number of questions of the papers/sections
Neutral 18.9%
Strongly agreed + Agreed
34.6%
Strongly disagreed +
disagreed 41.8%
Blank 4.7%
Degree of agreement about the relative weighting of the papers/sections
Degree of agreement about the proposed change in the AF
Neutral 19.2%
Strongly agreed + Agreed
34.3%
Strongly disagreed +
disagreed 41.2%
Blank 5.3%
* Findings of School Survey 2017 – Proposed changes in AF
* Observations of the Advisory Committee (1)
There was no overwhelming evidence of opposition to the
arrangement of the two strands for BAFS. The two strands mode would be adopted.
Views on improvement of the C&A Framework were diverse
Further engagement of key stakeholders after completion of school survey (Apr 2017 – Jun 2018)
meetings with representatives/key persons of major stakeholders
(including school councils and school head associations, accounting and management professional bodies, etc.)
follow-up focus group meetings with teachers to gather more qualitative data regarding teachers’ concern over the initial recommendations
reported and discussed the findings of the school survey and the actions
taken to refine the BAFS curriculum and assessment framework in
* Observations of the Advisory Committee (2)
Regarding the change of weighting in the compulsory part and the elective part of the two strands, as well as the corresponding changes of weighting of the papers/sections in the AF, respondents in FGMs expressed concern about
(i) the impacts on the assessment of the subject caused by the adjustment of common core weighting worried that the level of difficulty of
examination papers would be higher
(ii) the fairness issue on the curriculum contents for the two strands Accounting strand seemed to be heavier than the BM strand after trimming
Further improvement measures were proposed by
Advisory Committee
* Observations of the Advisory Committee (3)
Weighting of sections in each strand of the examination should be fine- tuned
Paper 2A Accounting
strand
Paper 2B Business Management
strand
Weighting (75%)
Section A 4-5 short questions 5-6 short questions 33%
Section B 3 application problems 2 case studies 27%
Section C 1 long question 1 essay question 15%
The curriculum content, especially the Accounting strand, should be further streamlined to ensure the two strands are of comparable level of difficulty
• Further streamlined the content
• Adjusted the breadth and depth of topics in accounting
module (please refer to the updated supplementary notes for details)
• Sample papers to show that the content being shifted from the compulsory part to elective part will still be the same (please refer to the sample examination papers for details)
18%→25% → 33%
27% → 33% → 27%
15% → 17% → 15%
existing
Initial recommendations
The 15% weighting of Paper 1 to be shifted to Paper 2 Section A, which comprises short questions only
* Observations of the Advisory Committee (4)
Concluded the recommendations for BAFS and submitted to the
Curriculum Development Council (CDC) and the Public Examination Board (PEB) for discussion and consideration (Aug 2018 – Apr 2020)
reviewed and updated the curriculum content of BAFS under the two-strand arrangement with the engagement of related committees and working group
planned and prepared measures to support and facilitate the implementation of the recommendations
recommendations on the direction of development of the BAFS curriculum and assessment (including the refined BAFS C&AF) endorsed by the CDC and the PEB
Remarks:
14 Advisory Committee meetings have been conducted since its establishment
Work progress of the Advisory Committee were reported in related committees/liaison meetings during the period
It is important to balance the views of different stakeholders
To remain steadfast in the ultimate goals of the senior secondary curriculum under NAS Impacts on introducing new senior secondary subject(s) to schools
Smooth articulation to multiple progression pathways
Relevant information and views collected from different sources
Students should be nurtured with essential knowledge, skills and values/attitudes required in the 21st century for the ultimate benefit of student learning
* Considerations for proposing and concluding the recommendations (1)
*Please refer to the preamble of questionnaire for the school survey conducted in 2017 for details
https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/technology-edu/whats- new/School_survey_on_the_way_forward_for_BAFS_CAF_Jan_2017.pdf
* Considerations for proposing and concluding the recommendations (2)
strengthen the coherence of
learning elements
strengthen the development of
accounting/
business management concepts in the 2
strands
allow more room and flexibility for further trimming of content in each individual strand with consideration of
the particular learning needs of the Accounting and BM students
no change to curriculum aims and
design
remain the alignment of level qualification of BAFS with
international standard Two-strand arrangement
improve curriculum &
assessment framework
*
• The BAFS subject should be retained
• The development of separate subject(s) or splitting of BAFS into separate subjects was not supported
• The curriculum and assessment (C&A) framework should be improved
* Direction of development of the BAFS
curriculum and assessment
(i) Two-strand arrangement: The BAFS curriculum will offer two strands of studies, i.e. Accounting Strand and Business Management Strand. “Introduction to Accounting” and “Introduction to
Management” will be moved from the compulsory part to the
respective Accounting/Business Management elective modules with a view to enhancing the coherence of content in each strand.
(ii) Adjustment in the weighting of the compulsory part and elective part from 40:60 to 25:75: The compulsory part of each strand will have two common topics, i.e. ‘Business Environment’ and ‘Basics of Personal Financial Management’. In addition, the compulsory part of the Accounting Strand will include ‘Basics of Management’ while the Business Management Strand will include ‘Basics of Accounting’.
(iii) Streamlining of the curriculum content: The curriculum content is further streamlined for better flow and balanced weighting of content for the two strands of studies.
* Recommendations on the refined
curriculum framework (CF)
(i) Proportional adjustments in AF: The weighting, examination duration and number of questions in Paper 1 and Paper 2 will be adjusted on a pro rata basis in response to the change in the
weighting of the compulsory part and the elective part from 40:60 to 25:75.
(ii) Separate examination papers will be provided for the two strands:
The Accounting Strand will be composed of Papers 1A and 2A and the Business Management Strand Papers 1B and 2B. Same questions will be set in Paper 1A & 1B for the common topics in the
compulsory part of the two strands.
(iii) The 15% weighting of Paper 1 will be shifted to Paper 2 Section A, which comprises short questions only.
* Recommendations on the refined
assessment framework (AF)
The refined C&A framework will be implemented at S4 starting from the 2022/23 school year, leading to the HKDSE BAFS Examination in 2025 and thereafter.
* Year of implementation
* Support measures to facilitate the implementation of recommendations (1)
BAFS supplementary notes were updated and posted at EDB webpage
Sample examination papers were prepared and uploaded on the HKEAA webpage
More professional development programmes to broaden teachers’
horizons in the business world will be organised, including visits to local companies and the Mainland
Development of e-learning resources to support student learning of
the refined BAFS curriculum is in progress (e.g. a set of graded
assignments (English version) for selected topics of the Accounting
Elective Part of the curriculum was completed in Feb 2020)
* Support measures to facilitate the implementation of recommendations (2)
Educational multimedia resources to promote the BAFS curriculum is completed and broadcasted in Feb 2020
(
https://www.hkedcity.net/etv/resource/446481044)
Development of a BAFS website to promote professional
development and sharing among teachers is in progress and will be launched by the end of 2020
A briefing session to be arranged for publishers to explain the
requirements of submitting textbooks (Compulsory Part) for BAFS
Constantly review and update the BAFS C&A Guide, as well as the
BAFS Glossary
*
Updates on the
supplementary notes Accounting Strand
Business Management Strand
* Accounting Strand –
Compulsory Part
* Accounting Strand –
Elective Part
10-11
* Business Management Strand –
Compulsory Part
Move to Elective Part – Financial Management
* Business Management Strand –
Elective Part
Only include the formulae covered in
BM Strand
*
Updates on the
2023 and 2025 BAFS
Assessment Framework
Candidates are expected to be aware of the impact of standards issued by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants upon the accounting definitions and treatments covered by this curriculum. Newly issued or revised standards which are effective before 1 September 2020 are applicable to the examination. In case where updates in the accounting standards would affect the BAFS curriculum and/or assessment, the Curriculum Development Institute of the Education Bureau and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority will announce the impact of the updates on the curriculum and/or assessment on a need basis.
Early adoption in 2023 HKDSE:
*
Sample examination papers
* The sample paper aims to illustrate the revised rubrics, instructions and paper layout, effective from the 2025 examination.
* The questions are adapted from past papers.
Accounting Strand
Paper 1A + Paper 2A
Business Management Strand
Paper 1B + Paper 2B
52
• 24 MCQs + 3 Short Questions
• MCQ1-MCQ16, SQ 1 and SQ 2 Same questions for both Paper 1A and Paper 1B
Different Questions
Different Questions
Same Questions
Same Questions