Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System
2011/2013 Cycle
1
Eligibility for Participation



Being a Hong Kong resident
Studying in a primary school
participating in the SSPA System
Never been allocated a Secondary 1
(S1) place
2
Two Stages

Discretionary Places (DP)

Central Allocation (CA)
3
Percentage of School Places
Repeater
Places
About
5%
30%
Discretionary
Places
Central Allocation
About
65%
4
DP Stage
Parents


If to apply, not more than two
participating secondary schools,
otherwise the chance of acquiring a
DP will be forfeited
Application is not
restriction on districts
subject
to
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DP Stage
Secondary Schools



Schools admit students according to
their own admission criteria and
weightings
Criteria should be fair, just, open and
educationally sound
Schools may arrange interviews, but
no written tests should be conducted
6
Application Form for S1 Discretionary Place (Sample)
Two Application Forms to each student (Only applicable for applying to participating schools;
Not applicable for applying to non-participating schools)
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
Each Application Form is divided into four parts. Students’ particulars are pre-printed in all parts
Lui Kee School
EDB’s
Copy



Lui Kee School
School’s
Copy
Lui Kee School
Parent’s
Copy
Lui Kee School
Order of
School
Preference
Parents should write the name of the school they wish to apply for according to their order
of preference in all parts of the Application Form
Method of submission: Must be submitted in person within the application period
(Submission by mail not accepted)
Parents should tear off the part containing the order of preference before submitting the
application (There is no need for parents to indicate their order of preference to the school)
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


Parents should submit the remaining three parts of the Application Form intact with the
documents required to the school directly. They should bring along the original of their
children’s identity document for checking by the secondary school
If the information provided is in order, the school would enter the school name, school code
and school chop in all parts of the Application Form
Parents will be given the Parent’s Copy as acknowledgement
Lui Kee School
Lui Kee School
001
呂祺中學
LUI KEE SCHOOL
LK
School
001
呂祺中學
LK
LUI KEE SCHOOLSchool
Lui Kee School
001
呂祺中學
LK
LUI KEE SCHOOLSchool
Once submitted, the Application Form cannot be retrieved or cancelled
and no change can be made to the order of school preference
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Allocation of DP
Parent
School
EDB

ONE School Choice
(Order of School Preference 1)
OR
TWO School Choices
(Order of School Preference 1 & 2)
Successful
and
Reserve
Lists

Matching of the
parent’s preference
against the school’s
successful and
reserve lists
Allocation will be
based on the
parent’s order of
preference
10
CA Stage

After the deduction of repeater and discretionary
places, the remaining places in a secondary
school are used for CA:


10% for Part A Unrestricted School Choices
(choose one to three schools from any
school nets, including the student’s own net)
90% for Part B Restricted School Choices
(choose a maximum of 30 schools from the
student’s own net)
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Demarcation of School Nets
In line with the administrative districts, the whole territory is divided into 18 school
nets for the allocation of places in Part B (Restricted School Choices) of CA.
The school net to which a student belongs is determined by the physical location of
the primary school he/she attends.
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School Choices Within the Net

To ensure all the nets have sufficient
places to meet the demand for CA,
each school net comprises:


all participating secondary schools
located in their own district; and
a number of participating secondary
schools in other districts *
* secondary schools and school places from
other districts may vary from year to year
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Secondary One Choice of Schools Form (Sample)

Part A Unrestricted School
Choices (Refer to
the Handbook for
Unrestricted School
Choices, choose a
maximum of 3
schools)
Part B - Restricted
School Choices
(Refer to the
Secondary School
List of the student’s
own net, choose a
maximum of 30
schools)



Should complete and
submit the Secondary
One Choice of Schools
Form to EDB in early
May through the
primary school
irrespective of whether
application for DP has
been made
CAN repeat the same
school choice in both
Part A and Part B if it is
in the student’s own net
DO NOT repeat the
choices in the same
part
DO NOT choose only a
few favourite schools in
Part B. This will not
increase the chance of
the student being
allocated to the school
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Criteria for Central Allocation
Part A
Unrestricted School
Choices



Student’s Allocation Band*
(Territory Band)
Parental Choice of Schools
(a maximum of 3)
Random Number #
Part B
Restricted School
Choices



Student’s Allocation Band*
(Net Band)
Parental Choice of Schools
(a maximum of 30)
Random Number #
• Allocation Band: Under the allocation process of SSPA, students’ standardised
internal assessment results at the end of P5, and both in mid-year and at the end
of P6 are scaled, then divided equally into 3 allocation bands with a view to
determining the order of allocation
# Random Number: It is used to determine the order of allocation within the same
allocation band. If the demand for school places of a certain secondary school
exceeds the supply, the student possessing a smaller random number will be
allocated a place first
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CA
Computerised Procedures
 A random number is first assigned
to each student by the computer. It
is used to determine the order of
allocation within the same allocation
band.
 The Unrestricted School Choices in
Part A will be processed first, to be
followed by the Restricted School
Choices in Part B.
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Part A : Allocation Process
The computer will first process the school
choices of students in Territory Band 1,
then the choices of students in Territory
Band 2, and
finally the choices of Territory Band 3
students.
Only after the computer has finished
processing the choices of all the students
in Part A will the unallocated students’
choices in Part B be processed.
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Part B: Allocation Process
 After all the students in Net Band 1 have
been allocated school places,
 the computer will follow the same
procedure to allocate places to students
in Net Band 2, and
 finally allocate places to students in Net
Band 3
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Choice-making Reference Materials
for Parents
Committee on Home-School Co-operation

Secondary School Profiles (Distributed in early December
2012)
Education Bureau


Handbook for Application for Secondary 1
Discretionary Places (Distributed in early December 2012)
Secondary School Lists and Handbook for
Unrestricted School Choices (Distributed in mid April 2013)
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2011/2013 Schedule
(2012/13 School Year)
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Late Oct 2012
Distribution of Information Leaflet and
DVD
Early Dec 2012
Distribution of Application Form for S1
Discretionary Place and related
documents
3 to 23 Jan 2013
All participating secondary schools
accept DP applications within the same
period
March/April 2013
Some secondary schools may conduct
interviews for selection of students
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Mid April 2013
Early May 2013
9 July 2013
Distribution of Secondary One
Choice of Schools Form and related
documents
All participating primary schools
submit parents’ duly completed
Secondary One Choice of Schools
Form
Release of allocation results
11 and 12 July 2013 Students register with the secondary
schools allocated
Note: The date for primary schools to collect the allocation results is 8 July. If EDB has announced the closure of schools in
the morning on that day owing to the issuing of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal Pre-No.8/No. 8 or above, the
collection of allocation results will be postponed to 9 July. The announcement of allocation results will be postponed
from 9 July to 10 July accordingly. If in the morning on the day of the announcement of allocation results (i.e. 9 July),
EDB has announced the closure of schools owing to the issuing of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal Pre-No.8/No. 8
or above or Red or Black Rainstorm Warning Signal, the announcement of allocation results will be postponed to the
next school day.
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Enquiries
Website
Education Bureau (www.edb.gov.hk): Home >
Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary Education
> Education System > School Places Allocation
Systems > Secondary School Places Allocation
(SSPA) System
Telephone
General Enquiries 2832 7740 / 2832 7700
Address
Room 203, 2nd Floor, Lui Kee Education
Services Centre, 269 Queen’s Road East,
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
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