A record 16 students achieved top scores in Hong Kong’s Diploma of Secondary Education examinations this year, with the results of the city’s version of the college entrance exam out on Wednesday.
The 16 students are from 14 schools across the special administrative region -- six on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and three in the New Territories.
The top students – 11 boys and five girls - scored 5** grades in seven out of eight subjects. The best 10 percent among the students achieving a Level 5 score - the highest - will be awarded 5** under Hong Kong’s examinations setting.
The 16 are among some 18,200, or about 43 percent of the 42,800 secondary school candidates who secured the minimum university admission requirement of “332A22”.
Among them, Wang Haibo - a student from Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club College in Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong Island - was crowned the “ultimate top scorer” with 5** grades in all the eight subjects – three core subjects and four electives, plus the extended maths module, along with a pass in the Citizenship and Social Development subject.
He became the city’s first ultimate top scorer since 2018.
Wang was born on the Chinese mainland and moved to the SAR when he was three. He has always received education in Hong Kong, and plans to remain in the city to study medicine.
He said if studies were solely for the purpose of taking examinations without genuine enthusiasm, the process would be arduous.
During a visit to a secondary school in Tai Po, New Territories, on Wednesday morning, Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said Hong Kong’s return to full normalcy following the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this year’s strong DSE results.
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She said more students had opted for applied learning subjects this year, showing that the optimized high school curriculum has enabled more students to pursue their fields of interest.
Wang Yuen-ting – another top scorer from Hong Kong Taoist Association Tang Hin Memorial Secondary School in Sheung Shui, New Territories – lives in Shenzhen and needs to commute between the southern mainland city and the SAR for her studies.
She said she’s “surprised” at achieving such good results as she felt that this year’s DSE was tougher than that in 2024. She plans to study medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong next year and practice in the SAR.
St. Paul's Co-educational College produced three top scorers. One of them said he would stay in Hong Kong to study medicine, another plans to pursue higher studies abroad, and the other intends to study economics at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
A day before the results were released, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu told students that the DSE isn’t the final stop in their lives, and that each route they take has its own unique characteristics and opportunities.
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He said the HKSAR government will provide students with various options for further education and assistance, and they can choose their most suitable path.
