General Information on Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System

Admission to Secondary 1 (S1) in September 2024

Applicable to Students Participating in SSPA
(Students studying Primary 6 in schools participating in SSPA)

• Information Leaflet on the SSPA System 2022/2024 Cycle 
• Video on the SSPA System 2022/2024 Cycle
• PowerPoint on SSPA 2022/2024 [October 2023]
• Frequently Asked Questions on SSPA 2022/2024  
   
• Parents' Talk on "Choice of Secondary Schools" [December 2023] (Chinese version only)
  • [Please click to view details of talks]
• Briefing Session for Parents of Non-Chinese Speaking (NCS) Students: Education Support Measures for NCS Students and SSPA 2022/2024  (English version only)   

Discretionary Places (DP)

• Application to government, aided and caput schools as well as Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) secondary schools participating in SSPA 
    
  • [Application period from 2 January to 16 January 2024]
  • [Please click to download Handbook for Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places]
  • [Please click to download Notes for Parents on Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places]
    • Versions: English , Bahasa Indonesia , Hindi , Nepali , 
      Punjabi (Indian) , Tagalog , Thai , Urdu , Vietnamese

• Application to non-participating Direct Subsidy Scheme (NDSS) secondary schools
  • [Application period at the schools' discretion]
  • [Please click to download List of Direct Subsidy Scheme Secondary Schools Not Participating in Secondary School Places Allocation 2022/2024] 
      

• Secondary schools participating in SSPA will notify parents of successful DP applicants of their children's inclusion in the Successful Lists for Discretionary Places on 27 March 2024
• EDB Circular No. 18/2019

Central Allocation (CA)

• Choice-making period from early April to early May in 2024
  
• Notes for Parents on Central Allocation for SSPA 2022/2024 
  • Versions: English, Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi (Indian), Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese
• Handbook for Unrestricted School Choices for SSPA 2022/2024 
• Secondary School List for SSPA 2022/2024 

• Release of DP and CA results on 9 July 2024
• S1 registration on 11 and 12 July 2024

Pre-Secondary One Hong Kong Attainment Test

• For more information, please click here

Applicable to Students NOT participating in SSPA
(including newly-arrived children and students studying Primary 6 in schools NOT participating in SSPA)

Schedule

• Application to government, aided and caput schools as well as DSS secondary schools participating in SSPA* 
    
  • [Application period from 2 January to 16 January 2024]
  • [Please click to download Handbook for Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places] 
  • [Please click to download Notes for Parents on Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places (Applicable to Non-participating Students)] 
    • Versions: English , Bahasa Indonesia , Hindi , Nepali , 
      Punjabi (Indian) , Tagalog , Thai , Urdu , Vietnamese 
    • Visit the School Places Allocation (SPA) Section of the EDB^{Note 1} during office hours from 5 December 2023 to 16 January 2024, bringing along the originals of student applicants' identity documents^{Note 2}.  Eligible applicants will be issued with the Application Form for Secondary One Discretionary Place and the activation code of the SSPA e-Platform^{Note 3}
      • [Note 1: The SPA Section has been relocated to the Podium Floor, West Block, Education Bureau Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, 19 Suffolk Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon on 18 December 2023]
      • [Note 2: If the student applicant is the dependant of an applicant whose application for any of the various talent admission schemes is pending approval from the Immigration Department, please also bring along the original of the relevant acknowledgement letter issued by the Immigration Department and the original of the student applicant’s birth certificate]
      • [Note 3: If parents cannot visit the SPA Section to submit the application in person owing to personal reason, he/she may authorise a representative to handle the related procedures on his/her behalf.  The authorised person should bring along the original of the letter of authorisation signed by the parent (Please click to download Sample Letter of Authorisation), a copy of the parent's identity document, the originals of the student applicant's identity documents and a copy of the student applicant's birth certificate.]
    • Submit the Application Form for Secondary One Discretionary Place and documents required to the school direct from 2 January to 16 January 2024.  For parents registered as SSPA e-Platform users and bound their account to “iAM Smart+”, apart from the paper Application Form, they may submit DP applications via the SSPA e-Platform
    • Secondary schools participating in SSPA will notify parents of successful DP applicants of their children's inclusion in the Successful Lists for Discretionary Places on 27 March 2024
    • If student applicants are admitted by participating secondary schools or Jockey Club Ti-I College at DP stage, the secondary school concerned will call the parents to inform them of the application results and the related arrangements on 9 July 2024, i.e. the date of announcement of the allocation results

• Application to NDSS secondary schools
  • [Application period at the schools' discretion]
  • [Please click to download List of Direct Subsidy Scheme Secondary Schools Not Participating in Secondary School Places Allocation 2022/2024] 
      

• Application for a subsidised S1 place for 2024/25 school year*
  • [To be allocated by the EDB]
    • Applicants may apply for a subsidised S1 place from May to August 2024. Places available after CA will be allocated to eligible applicants by the EDB.  Applicants should submit the applications by visiting the SPA Section in person
    • The results of the first batch of applications will be announced in early July 2024, the second batch by the end of July 2024, the third batch in mid-August 2024, and thereafter students will be informed individually