Annual tests find secondary pupils’ English abilities fall to record low in Hong Kong

The English competency of Hong Kong’s Form Three students has dropped to its lowest level in nearly two decades, with education sector leaders attributing the fall to learning challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Proficiency in Chinese, English and maths among Primary Three pupils also fell to their worst levels in about 20 years.

The results from the Territory-wide System Assessment, announced by the Education Bureau on Monday, also prompted an academic to call for urgent efforts to address the problem if the trend continued next year.

The annual assessment was introduced in primary schools in 2004 before being extended to secondary schools. The data on competency levels is based on the percentage of students who pass its tests for the three subjects.

“Compared with last year, the performance of the Primary Three and Form Three students taking the assessment for Chinese, English and maths remains generally steady this year,” a bureau spokesman said.

The latest figures were compiled from the scores of Primary Three and Form Three students who sat the assessment in the 2023-24 academic year.