Hong Kong’s Secondary One allocation results have been released. Combining the two stages of discretionary places and central allocation, 95% of students this year were allocated one of their top three school choices. However, allocation results are always a mixed experience for parents. Some are pleased, while others may be disappointed. For parents whose children will take part in this “Secondary One lucky draw” next year, how should they start preparing early?
First, parents should understand how the allocation mechanism works. It is mainly divided into two stages: “Discretionary Places” and “Central Allocation”. During the Discretionary Places stage, parents are not restricted by school nets. They may apply to any two secondary schools in Hong Kong that participate in the Secondary School Places Allocation System.
However, it is important to note that if a student applies to more than two participating secondary schools at the same time, their eligibility for discretionary places will be cancelled. After deducting no more than 30% of places for discretionary places and places for repeaters, each secondary school will allocate 10% of the remaining places to Part A of Central Allocation, which is not restricted by school net, and 90% to Part B, which is allocated according to school net.
As for Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and private schools that do not participate in the Secondary School Places Allocation System, they admit students independently. Parents may apply to these schools separately, and there is no limit on the number of applications. However, if a student eventually accepts a place from a Direct Subsidy Scheme school or private school, they will no longer be allocated a Secondary One place at a government, aided, or other participating secondary school through the Secondary School Places Allocation System.
By the Central Allocation stage, form-filling becomes even more strategic. Parents should plan according to their child’s actual competitiveness, allocation band, and school choices.
The biggest mistake is to focus only on famous schools or to be overly aggressive with choices. A more balanced approach is to arrange preferred schools, safer options, and schools with a higher chance of allocation in a sensible order. This can help avoid the risk of being allocated to a much lower-ranked choice because the earlier choices were too ambitious.
When filling in Part A, the main principle should be whether the child genuinely wants to attend that school, rather than simply filling in all the blanks. If parents only have one top-choice school, they may consider listing only that school in Part A. There is no need to force themselves to fill all three choices.
If a second-choice school, or a school that is not truly preferred, is listed in a later position in Part A and the student is successfully allocated to that school, they may no longer proceed to Part B allocation.
As for Part B, parents should list up to 30 choices as far as possible, in order of preference. Since Part B allows for more choices, parents may include their preferred schools, but should also take into account their child’s allocation band, the popularity of different schools, and past allocation results. They should add some safer options instead of concentrating too many choices on popular schools.
So how does Central Allocation actually work? The computer will first process Part A allocation, followed by Part B. During the allocation process, students are handled according to their allocation band. Band One students are processed first, followed by Band Two and then Band Three students.
Within each band, the computer first processes students’ first choices and allocates places according to random numbers, from smallest to largest. If a student is not allocated their first choice, the system will move on to their second choice; if they are still not allocated a place, it will continue processing their choices in order, and so on.
If a student has already been allocated a place in Part A, they will not proceed to Part B allocation. If a student is still not allocated a place after all choices in both Part A and Part B have been processed, the system will allocate them a place based on the remaining school places within their school net.
Therefore, when filling in school choices, parents should not focus only on popular schools. They should also include safer and more realistic options to reduce the risk of being allocated to a much lower-ranked choice, or even being assigned a remaining school place by the system.
As for how parents can know which allocation band their child belongs to, it is important to note that the Education Bureau generally does not directly disclose a student’s actual band. Parents can only estimate their child’s approximate band by referring to their school ranking, academic performance, teachers’ assessments, and the school’s past Secondary One allocation results. This allows parents to plan according to their child’s actual competitiveness and avoid making overly aggressive school choices.
