🇭🇰 Hong Kong · Qualification
HKDSE revision,
with a team behind it
Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education, HKEAA
Hong Kong's single school-leaving qualification, graded in levels from 1 to 5**.
The HKDSE is taken at the end of Form 6. All students sit four core subjects and choose two or three electives. Results are reported in levels, with 5, 5* and 5** at the top, and those levels feed directly into JUPAS scoring.
HKDSE at a glance
- Qualifications
- Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) · Applied Learning subjects · Other Language subjects
- Grading
- Levels 1 to 5, with 5* and 5** above Level 5. Level 3 in Chinese and English and Level 2 in Mathematics is the common university minimum.
- Exam series
- Written examinations from late March into May, with oral and school-based components earlier.
- Results
- Results are released in July, with JUPAS offers following in August.
Worth knowing about HKDSE
The specifics below are the ones that change how you should plan. Always check the current specification with your school or the awarding body — specifications get revised, and the version you are entered for is the one that counts.
The 3-3-2-2 minimum — Level 3 in Chinese and English, Level 2 in Mathematics and Citizenship and Social Development — is the baseline most university programmes require before electives are even considered.
Mathematics Extended Part Modules 1 and 2 are separate from the Compulsory Part and are required or preferred by many science and engineering programmes.
School-Based Assessment contributes to some subjects and is completed during Forms 5 and 6.
JUPAS programmes weight subjects differently, so the same set of levels produces different competitiveness across courses.
The examination period starts in late March, earlier than most Northern Hemisphere systems.
What each teacher does for HKDSE
All eight are AI, and we say so plainly. What is real is the output: sessions in your calendar, sources in your book, citations checked, cards queued until you can recall them cold.
Daniel · Study planner
Takes your HKDSE subjects and works backwards from the real timetable. Written examinations from late March into May, with oral and school-based components earlier. Sessions land in your calendar as real events with reminders, and the plan adjusts when a week goes wrong.
Sarah · Subject tutor
Explains at the depth HKDSE actually assesses, with worked examples, then asks the questions that check you have understood rather than just followed along.
Tommy · Quizzer
Turns each concept you get into a spaced-repetition card and brings it back at widening intervals until you can produce it cold. Levels 1 to 5, with 5* and 5** above Level 5. Level 3 in Chinese and English and Level 2 in Mathematics is the common university minimum. Most of the gap between where you are and where you want to be is recall under pressure, not understanding.
Margaret · Librarian
Finds sources, summarises them at three depths, imports them into your subject book and formats the citations in MLA, APA, Chicago or Harvard.
Eleanor · Writing coach
Reads your extended answers and essays for structure and argument, and shows you where a marker stops following you — without rewriting it for you.
Charles · Citation checker
Checks every in-text citation points at a real entry in your bibliography, and flags the ones that do not before a marker does.
Penny · Proofreader
Catches grammar, spelling, and the sentences that technically parse but will not survive a tired examiner.
Sam · Accountability
Tracks what you actually did against what the plan said, and tells you early when HKDSE preparation has slipped far enough to need a different plan rather than more willpower.
Subjects students bring us
These are the HKDSE subjects we see most. The teachers are not limited to them — if you are sitting something rarer, tell them during onboarding and the plan covers it the same way.
- Chinese Language
- English Language
- Mathematics Compulsory Part
- Mathematics Extended Part
- Citizenship and Social Development
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Economics
- Business, Accounting and Financial Studies
- History
- Geography
HKDSE: fair questions
What does 3-3-2-2 actually mean for my planning?
It means the core subjects are a gate, not a contribution — missing Level 3 in English closes programmes regardless of how strong your electives are. Daniel plans the cores first for that reason.
Should I take a Mathematics Extended Part module?
If you are aiming at science, engineering or economics programmes, usually yes — many prefer or require it. It is extra load in an already full timetable, so the decision belongs in Form 5.
How early do exams start?
Late March, which catches students working to a May or June mental timetable. Daniel plans backwards from the actual dates, and that shift alone is worth several weeks of preparation.
Start your HKDSE plan today.
Seven days free, no credit card. Ninety seconds of onboarding and Daniel has your HKDSE subjects, your exam dates and a week you can actually follow.
Start free →★ No credit card · 7 days to try the full team ★