Subjects under the Eight Key Learning Areas

(2025/26 School Year)

¹ The revised Computational Thinking ─ Coding Education: Supplement to the Primary Curriculum published in 2020 recommends schools to allocate about 10-14 hours at each upper primary level to teach coding education to cultivate students’ computational thinking. In 2022/23 school year and 2023/24 school year, EDB announced the “Enriched Module on Coding Education for Upper Primary Level” for Primary 4, Primary 5 and Primary 6 through EDBCM No. 109/2023, No. 32/2024 and No. 152/2024 respectively for all publicly-funded schools to adopt.

² All primary schools in Hong Kong are required to implement Primary Science and Primary Humanities at Primary 1 and Primary 4 starting from the 2025/26 school year, and extend to all levels in the 2027/28 school year. The General Studies (GS) curriculum is replaced by Primary Science and Primary Humanities progressively starting from the 2025/26 school year.

³ Technology Education Key Learning Area Curriculum was fully implemented at the junior secondary level in the 2016/17 school year. It covers six knowledge contexts, namely “Information and Communication Technology (ICT)”, “Materials and Structures”, “Operations and Manufacturing”, “Strategies and Management”, “Systems and Control”, and “Technology and Living”. Modular approach is proposed in the implementation of the curriculum. In relation to the ICT knowledge context, the “Module on Artificial Intelligence for Junior Secondary Level” has been developed for schools to adopt starting from the 2023/24 school year, and schools should allocate 10 to 14 hours of AI learning at the junior secondary level (EDBCM No. 109/2023).

⁴ Schools should offer Chinese History as an independent compulsory subject at the junior secondary (JS) level from the 2018/19 school year. All secondary schools should allocate 25% of the total lesson time for the PSHE KLA curriculum, or about 5% of the total lesson time for the JS level, or about two lessons per week, to the study of Chinese History under the PSHE KLA at the JS level.

⁵ Citizenship, Economics and Society in leiu of Life and Society has been implemented at S1 in all secondary schools in Hong Kong starting from the 2024/25 school year.

⁶ The Senior Secondary (SS) Curriculum implemented in September 2009 is made up of 3 components, namely, Core Subjects, Elective Subjects (including SS subjects, Applied Learning courses and Other Languages) and Other Learning Experiences (i.e. Values Education, Community Service, Aesthetic Development, Physical Development and Career-related Experiences).

• Applied Learning (ApL): covers six Areas of Studies, namely Creative Studies; Media and Communication; Business, Management and Law; Services; Applied Science; and Engineering and Production. In addition, Applied Learning Chinese (for non-Chinese speaking students) (ApL(C)) is provided exclusively for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students meeting specified circumstances^#. Currently, there are more than 50 ApL courses for students to choose from. Students may take a maximum of two ApL courses as elective subjects^* in accordance with their interests and aspirations. NCS students meeting specified circumstances can in addition take one ApL(C) course.

^# Students who have learned Chinese Language for less than six years while receiving primary and secondary education; or students who have learned Chinese Language for six years or more in schools, but have been taught an adapted and simpler Chinese Language curriculum not normally applicable to the majority of students in local schools.

^* In general, each student can take a maximum of two ApL courses (except ApL(C)) as elective subjects throughout his/her studies at the senior secondary level.

• Other Languages (OL): Schools can offer the six designated OL, including French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Urdu, as SS elective subjects for S4-S6 students.