Published on : 04/08/2024
On August 4, 2011, the results of the last Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) under the "3223" old academic system were released online.
The last HKCEE had more than 26,000 candidates, 80% of whom were retakers. Interestingly, over 30 candidates were examinees from the 1978 HKCEE.
The spokesperson of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) described this unusual situation as "interesting", saying that these candidates might be attempting to learn from the past and challenge themselves.
In terms of the results, the last HKCEE was available only for self-study students, thus no one got "10A". Only over 500 people passed in five subjects including Chinese and English.
Additionally, there were 50 candidates with a grade of 5* in Chinese Language, approximately one-third of the best performing candidates at Level 5. For English, 209 candidates achieved a 5*, around one-fifth of the top performers at Level 5.
Regrettably, mainstream schools no longer offer courses under the old system. Candidates who want to continue their studies could only shift to the new academic system of "334" or enrol in courses offered by post-secondary institutions.
Some interesting stats show that the HKCEE, in its duration, has been held for 34 times, encompassing up to 4.39 million candidates; and it had issued over 35 million examination papers.
The HKCEE in 2006 saw the highest number of top scorers, with 25 candidates achieving "10A". The statistics also showed that from 2006 to 2011, over 30,000 HKCEE candidates "failed completely", as their performance in all subjects were not up to par.
