General Information on Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System

Admission to Secondary 1 (S1) in September 2023

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

• Information Leaflet on the SSPA System 2021/2023 Cycle
• Video on the SSPA System 2021/2023 Cycle
• PowerPoint on SSPA 2021/2023 [October 2022]
• Frequently Asked Questions on SSPA 2021/2023 
• Parents' Talk on "Choice of Secondary Schools" [December 2022] (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 2021/2023  (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^Note
  • [Application period from 3 January to 17 January 2023]
  • [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
    • [^#In view of the COVID-19 epidemic situation, this year's DP applications can also be submitted via post.  Parents could arrange to submit the completed Application Forms and other documents required by the secondary school by post between 3 January (Tuesday) and 17 January 2023 (Tuesday), both dates inclusive (the postmark date should not be later than the prescribed deadline)]
  • [Note: Should students/parents be unable to return to school and collect the Application Forms for Secondary One Discretionary Place and related documents in person, parents should authorise in writing a representative to collect documents from the school on behalf of their child.  For details, please contact the respective primary school (Please click to download the Sample of Letter of Authorisation for Collecting Documents for Application for Secondary 1 Discretionary Place)]

• 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 2021/2023]

• 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 31 March 2023
• EDB Circular No. 18/2019

Central Allocation (CA)

• Choice-making period from mid-April to early May in 2023
  

• Release of DP and CA results on 11 July 2023
• S1 registration on 13 and 14 July 2023

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 3 January to 17 January 2023]
  •  [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
    • [ ^#In view of the COVID-19 epidemic situation, this year's DP applications can also be submitted via post.  Parents could arrange to submit the completed Application Forms and other documents required by the secondary school by post between 3 January (Tuesday) and 17 January 2023 (Tuesday), both dates inclusive (the postmark date should not be later than the prescribed deadline)]
    • Apply for the issuance of the Application Form for Secondary One Discretionary Place and process the SSPA e-Platform parent account registration from the School Places Allocation (SPA) Section of the EDB during office hours from 6 December 2022 to 17 January 2023, bringing along the originals of student-applicants' identity documents^Note
      • [Note: If parents could not proceed to submit the application to the SPA Section in person owing to personal reason, he/she may authorise a representative to proceed the related procedures on his/her behalf.  The authorised person should bring along with the original of letter of authorisation signed by parent (Please click to download Sample Letter of Authorisation), the copy of parent's identity document, the originals of student applicant's identity documents and the copy of student applicant's birth certificate.]
    • Submit the Application Form for Secondary One Discretionary Place and documents required to the school direct from 3 January to 17 January 2023.  For parents registered as SSPA e-Platform users and bound their account with “iAM Smart+”, apart from the paper Application Form, they may also choose to 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 31 March 2023
    • 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 11 July 2023, 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 2021/2023]

• Application for a subsidised S1 place for 2023/24 school year*  
  • [To be allocated by the EDB]
    • Apply for a subsidised S1 place at the SPA Section of the EDB during office hours from May to August 2023, bringing along the originals of student-applicant's identity documents.  Places available after Central Allocation will be allocated to eligible applicants by the EDB
    • The results of the first batch of applications will be announced in mid-July, the second batch by the end of July, the third batch in mid-August 2023, and thereafter students will be informed individually