The Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) is an assessment introduced by the

Education Commission The Education Commission of Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special ...

in the report o
"Reform Proposal for the Education System in Hong Kong"
in September 2000. The Territory-wide System Assessment is held in June every

year A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...

since 2004 for students of Primary 3, Primary 6 (implemented in alternate year starting from 2011) and Secondary 3. The ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' is designed for facilitating learning and teaching after evaluating the

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

learning standard of the students in the subject of

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

and

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

at the end of key stage 1-3.

Introduction

The Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) is a territory-level assessment launched and administered by the

Education Bureau The Education Bureau (EDB) is responsible for formulating and implementing education policies in Hong Kong. The bureau is headed by the Secretary for Education and oversees agencies including University Grants Committee and Student Fina ...

(Chinese: 教育局) since 2004. The aims of the ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' is to objectively assess the basic learning competencies and learning progress of the students at different stages of learning. The capabilities of students are analysed through the Territory-wide System Assessment in order to improve the

effectiveness Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Etymology The ori ...

in learning and teaching. Educational policies can be reviewed with the help of the

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted ...

collected through the Territory-wide System Assessment. The Territory-wide System Assessment is conducted in the form of pencil and paper (except Chinese and English

oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...

assessment) and the examined subjects are

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Language,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Language and

. The Territory-wide System Assessment is compulsory for all Primary 3, Primary 6 and Secondary 3 students from government-subsidised schools. The assessment results of the students with intellectual disabilities, e.g. suffering from

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

mental retardation Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signific ...

can be excluded after getting medical approval.

Subjects Examined

Chinese Language

The assessment of

language is divided into 5 sub-papers each with a focus on a specific skill of

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

listening Listening is giving attention to a sound or action. When listening, a person hears what others are saying and tries to understand what it means. The act of listening involves complex affective, cognitive and behavioral processes. Affective proce ...

and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

information respectively. Meanwhile,

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

s from primary three, six and secondary three will be chosen randomly to apply the test of

information in every school.

Writing Assessment

Primary three
an
Primary six
Assessment Time: 40 minutes Number of questions: 2 Question Form: short

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

(mainly narrative, descriptive essay) and practical writing (

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

, invitation card, memo,

notice Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice (or legal notice), actual notice, constructive notice Se ...

, diary, journal, etc) Word Limitation: No * Secondary three Assessment Time: 75 minutes Number of Questions: 2 Question Form:Specified writing and practical writing (mainly announcement,

, speech and

reports A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...

, etc) Word Limitations: No

Listening Assessment

* Assessment Time: approximately 20 minutes * Type of

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

: two to three parts (depends on the recordings’ nature) * Recording Format: recording will only be played once * Question Form:

Multiple choice Multiple choice (MC), objective response or MCQ (for multiple choice question) is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked to select only correct answers from the choices offered as a list. The multiple choice format is m ...

questions

Reading Assessment

Primary three
an
Primary six
Assessment Time: 25 minutes Number of Questions: two short stories and one to two practical writings (depends on the questions’ nature) Type of passages: narrative, exposition and practical writing (

, invitation card, etc) Question Form:

questions, fill in the blanks, sentence ordering, short questions, etc * Secondary three Assessment Time: 30 minutes Type of passages:

Vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as Baihua () or Huawen (), is the forms of written Chinese based on the varieties of Chinese spoken throughout China, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used during imperial China up to ...

(

Narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...

, Description,

Exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing **Exposition (narrative) *Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio *Exposi ...

, Argumentation, and lyrical literature. etc),

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

, practical passage Question Form:

questions

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
Information Assessment

Primary three
an
Primary six
Assessment Time: 15 minutes Participants: 30 students Type of

Video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

: two to three parts (depends on the videos’ nature)

Format: video will only be played once Question Form:

questions * Secondary three Assessment Time: 15 minutes Participants: all secondary three students

Format:

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

will only be played once Question Form:

questions

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid Oral administration of medicines Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...
Assessment

Assessment Time: approximately four to eight minutes Participants: twelve to twenty-four students
Form of Assessment
#

Storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

through pictures # Group Discussion * Secondary three Assessment Time: approximately seven to eleven minutes Participants: twelve to twenty-four students Form of Assessment: #

Individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...

Speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

# Group Discussion

English Language

The assessment of

language in primary school is divided into 3 sub-papers each with a focus on a specific skill of

and

speaking Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

respectively. The assessment of

language in secondary school is divided into 4 sub-papers each focus on a specific skill of

and

respectively.

Candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

s from every school will be chosen randomly to attend the

assessment.

Reading and writing Assessment

The question form of Reading part is

question. The Writing part requires to write an

based on a topic or write a story based on the pictures given.
Primary three
Assessment time: 25 minutes Word limit for Writing part: Write about 30 words
Primary six
Assessment time: 50 minutes Word limit for Writing part: Write about 80 words * Secondary three Assessment time for Reading part: 30 minutes Assessment time for Writing part: 40 minutes Word limit for Writing part: Write about 150 words.

Listening Assessment

The question form of primary school assessment is

question while the question forms of secondary school assessment are

question and filling the blanks. Each recording will be played twice. * Primary three Assessment time: 20 minutes * Primary six Assessment time: 30 minutes * Secondary three Assessment time: 25 minutes

Speaking Assessment

* Primary three Preparation time: 2 minutes Assessment time: 3 minutes The assessment is divided into two parts. Part 1 is reading alone and part 2 is answering one question asked by teacher. * Primary six Preparation time: 2 minutes Assessment time: 3 minutes The assessment is divided into two parts. Part 1 is reading alone and part 2 is answering one question asked by teacher. * Secondary three Preparation time: 3 minutes Assessment time: 2 minutes Candidates are required to give an

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...

presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

Mathematics

The assessment of

is provided in both

and

according to different needs of students. Every student from all schools have to apply this assessment. * Assessment time: # Primary three: 40 minutes # Primary six: 50 minutes # Secondary three: 65 minutes * Dimension: #

Number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

and

Algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary a ...

Shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material type. A pl ...

and

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

Measures Measure may refer to: * Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event Law * Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States * Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England * Meas ...

# Data Handling

Timeline - Problems and Controversy

2009 See also: 2009 flu pandemic in Hong Kong * In 2009, because of the first known cluster of local transmission of the

swine flu Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As o ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, the

(Chinese: 教育局) ordered the closure of all primary schools and th
cancellation of the ''Territory-wide System Assessment''
this year. However, the

assessment which had been held on 23 and 24 June was not affected. 2014 * In the Secondary 3

Language ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' 2014, two school
wrongly distributed
the

and

papers to the students and this was the first case since the start of ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' in 2004. The two schools involved were th
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Sun Hoi Directors' College
and th
PAOC Ka Chi Secondary School
respectively. 2015 * Parents concerning the effects brought by the ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' started an

online petition An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...

, requesting a cancellation of the Primary 3 ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' exam. As most of the schools require students to finish large amount of complementary exercises and attend extra lessons conducted for the ''Territory-wide System Assessment'', parents worrying about the

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and mental states of children requested for the cancellation of the exam. Tens of thousands of parents signed a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

calling for the Primary Three exams to be cancelled, saying they put too much pressure on children. * Details ** 30 October --
Kau Yan School
, a private primary school in

Sai Ying Pun Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District. Etymology In Cantonese, ''Sai'' () means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' () means "camp", especially a ...

, announced that it would boycott the tests this

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

, saying the scheme was not in line with the school's mission and was no good for students. ** 31 October --- The

(Chinese: 教育局) admitted that there were problems with the controversial ''Territory-wide System Assessment'' and had pledged to review the assessments.{{cite web, title = Education Bureau's promise to review school tests fails to satisfy union and parents, url = http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1874523/education-bureau-promise-review-school-tests, website = South China Morning Post, accessdate = 2015-11-09

References

Educational assessment and evaluation Education in Hong Kong

Introduction

Subjects Examined

Chinese Language

Writing Assessment

Listening Assessment

Reading Assessment

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ... Information Assessment

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ... Assessment

English Language

Reading and writing Assessment

Listening Assessment

Speaking Assessment

Mathematics

Timeline - Problems and Controversy

References

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
Information Assessment

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid Oral administration of medicines Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...
Assessment