Secondary Four Placement Mechanism Frequently Asked Questions
Q(1) Under the New Senior Secondary (NSS) academic structure, will all Secondary Three (S3) students progress to Secondary Four (S4) in their own school? Will they be required to take any public examinations?
A(1) Under the NSS academic structure, students wishing to pursue mainstream education should normally be able to complete 6 years of secondary education in the same school to ensure continuity of learning. S3 students will not be required to take any public examinations before they progress to S4. S3 students studying in schools with sufficient S4 places will all be promoted to S4 in their own school.
If there are individual schools which cannot provide sufficient S4 places for all their S3 students, the schools concerned should admit their own S3 students to fill the S4 places available according to the students’ order of merit in the internal assessments in S3. S3 students who cannot obtain S4 places in their own school will be centrally placed to S4 in other schools by the Education Bureau (EDB).
Q(2) How can parents know if their child can be promoted to S4 in their own school?
A(2) Save for exceptional cases, all government, aided and caput schools should make available sufficient S4 places to accommodate all their own S3 students and are expected to confirm this arrangement with parents of S3 students at the start of the school year. S3 students studying in these schools will not participate in Central Placement. Parents may contact their child’s school direct for details.
Q(3) Will school places be arranged on a district basis under the Secondary Four Placement (SFP) Mechanism? Will parents have a chance to choose schools?
A(3) To ensure fairness and full utilization of S4 places, Central Placement is carried out on a territory-wide basis. In June 2022, the EDB will distribute to each S3 student participating in Central Placement a “Parents’ Guidebook for Choice of Schools”
and a “Choice of Schools Form”. Parents can make their choices of schools in order of preference on the Choice Form with reference to the information provided in the “Parents’ Guidebook for Choice of Schools”.
Q(4) What is the basis for placement under the SFP Mechanism?
A(4) S3 students participating in Central Placement are arranged S4 places through a computerized procedure, which is based on their order of merit in the internal assessments in S3 scaled by the Secondary School Places Allocation Standard Scores as well as parental choices.
Q(5) Can students choose to study in schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS), including Senior Secondary Schools (SSS)?
A(5) DSS schools, including SSS, will recruit S4 students on their own. S3 students wishing to pursue S4 in these DSS schools may apply to the schools direct.
Students admitted to S4 in DSS schools, including SSS, will not be arranged S4 places in government, aided and caput schools. Some SSS will also provide S4 places at the Central Placement stage. S3 students participating in Central Placement may choose SSS which provide places at this stage.
Q(6) Will students be placed through Central Placement to SSS under DSS which may be fee-charging?
A(6) Some SSS under DSS will provide S4 places at the Central Placement stage.
Information of these schools and their tentative annual school fees for S4 in the coming school year will be provided in the “Parents’ Guidebook for Choice of Schools” for parents’ reference when making school choices. Students will not be placed to SSS under DSS unless their parents have indicated such choices in the
“Choice of Schools Form”.
Q(7) If S3 students are interested in full-time Post-Secondary Three (PS3) craft courses, what should they do?
A(7) The Vocational Training Council (VTC) and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) will recruit students on their own. S3 students who wish to enrol in PS3 craft courses should note the courses offered and the application procedures, and apply to the training bodies direct according to their interests and preferences.
Students admitted to PS3 craft courses will not be arranged S4 places in government, aided and caput schools. Further information is available at the respective webpages of the vocational training organizations.
VTC’s website:
https://www.vtc.edu.hk/admission/en/s3/s3-overview/
Hong Kong Institute of Construction of CIC’s website:
https://www.hkic.edu.hk/eng/programmes/basic_craft_courses END
