The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), previously known as the Hong Kong Examinations Authority (HKEA) before 2002, is a statutory body of the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

responsible for the administration of public examinations and related assessments. The authority is Hong Kong's only public

examination board An examination board (or exam board) is small board organization that sets examinations, is responsible for marking them, and distributes results. Some are run by governmental entities; some are run as not-for-profit organizations. List of nati ...

. Currently HKEAA administers the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) since 2012; in the past, it was responsible for the

Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination The Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE, 香港中學會考) was a standardised examination between 1974 and 2011 after most local students' five-year secondary education, conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment ...

(HKCEE) (discontinued since 2012) and the

Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination The Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE, 香港高級程度會考), or more commonly known as the A-level, conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), was taken by senior students at the end of their matricu ...

(HKALE) (discontinued since 2014).

History

The Authority was established on 5 May 1977. The Authority commenced to be the provider of

Hong Kong Higher Level Examination The Hong Kong Higher Level Examination ({{zh, c=香港高等程度會考) was a public examination taken by students in Hong Kong at the end of Form 6 (Lower Sixth), in preparation for entry to the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) which then ...

and

(HKALE) in 1979 and 1980 respectively. It was put in charge of the HKCEE the following year, becoming the only administrator of public examinations in Hong Kong.

The Authority Council

The Authority Council comprises 17 members selected from the school sector, tertiary institutions, government bodies and persons experienced in commerce, industry or a profession in Hong Kong. Aside from the ''ex officio'' affiliates, all members are allotted by the

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Hong Kong SAR Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino-B ...

. The governing council is accountable for devising examination policies and scrutinising the operation of the Authority.

Employment

The Authority employs a permanent Secretariat of in the region of 340 staff members to overhaul its boards and committees and to formulate all the essential engagements for the running of the examinations for which the Authority is in charge. The Secretariat is the decision-making division of the Authority.

Administration structure

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority is backed up by a number of committees in its management of the examinations in Hong Kong, as follows: *The Authority Council **Finance and General ***Purposes Committee Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers Main Committee ***Basic Competency Assessments Main Committee **School Examinations Board Research Committee ***Grading Committee ***Subject Committees *** Committee on Processing of Applications from Candidates with Disabilities

Examination services

The International and Professional Examinations Division of HKEAA (IPED) accepts and administers entries from private candidates for over 200 examinations. For example, the HKEAA administers IGCSE examinations from

University of Cambridge International Examinations Cambridge Assessment International Education (informally known as Cambridge International or simply Cambridge and formerly known as CIE, Cambridge International Examinations) is a provider of international qualifications, offering examinations ...

and Edexcel boards. The HKEAA imports some languages examinations from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

into the HKCEE and will continue to do so after the introduction of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE).

Controversies

There are numerous controversies, particularly after 2004, raised regarding the questions on

Controversy of the history paper of 2020 HKDSE

On 14 May 2020, candidates were asked whether they agreed with the statement 'Japan did more good than harm to China in the period of 1900-45.' in the history exam of

HKDSE The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) is an examination organised by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). The HKDSE examination is Hong Kong's university entrance examination, administere ...

. Education Bureau later requested HKEAA to scrap the question, claiming it 'leading and biased.' State media such as

Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'') is the oldest active Chinese language newspaper in China. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government after the Chinese Civil War ...

Wen Wei Po ''Wen Wei Po'' is a pro-Beijing state-owned newspaper based in Hong Kong. The newspaper was established in Hong Kong on 9 September 1948, after its Shanghai edition was launched in 1938. Its head office is in the Hing Wai Centre () in Aber ...

and

Global Times The ''Global Times'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the '' People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective. The pub ...

slammed the staffers of HKEAA unfit for setting examination questions. The incident led to candidates to avoid elective questions on China in the 2021 examination.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Examinations And Assessment Authority Educational organisations based in Hong Kong School examinations in Hong Kong Statutory bodies in Hong Kong Qualifications awarding bodies Hong Kong government departments and agencies