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Ever since the hand over in 1997, The Hong Kong government had spent much effort to develop a home-grown education system that would eventually replace the previous curriculum devised by and modeled after the British System UK GCSE and GCE A-levels. One of the first controversial reforms was the differentiation of schools into EMI (English as Medium of Instructions) and CMI (Chinese as Medium of Instructions) institutions. As society debated the appropriateness of such a policy, the government embarked upon a more ambitious program that would be designed to overhaul the entire education system with selected reference to increasing popular international curriculum like the IB (International Baccalaureate) Advanced Diploma.

Starting from 2009, The New Academic Structure or 3-3-4 system will divide high school curriculum into two key stages starting from Form 1 to Form 3 (Year 7-Year 9) and Form 4 to Form 6 (Year 10- Year 11) followed by a 4 year tertiary education program. The key stage that is subjected to the most radical change is stage 2 from Form 4 to Form 6, under the New Senior Secondary Curriculum Framework, or NSS, the Hong Kong Education Department will replace the existing HKCEE (Hong Kong Certificate Examination of Education) and the HKALE (Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination) with a single qualification at the end of Year 12 for a HKDSE (Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education).

This change is significant due to an unexpected break of the Hong Kong education system’s congruence with other popular international education systems, namely the respective UK GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and GCE (General Certificate of Education) A Levels, which the previous Hong Kong system mirrored, and also the IB Advance Diploma, which is typically a Year 12-13 program. This greatly limits the chances of local school students transferring to Hong Kong and overseas international school during key qualifications years like Year 4 and Year 12. Furthermore, it restricts the opportunities of local students in seeking tertiary education overseas, as the local bred HKDSE qualification is no longer comparable to any recognized international qualification and thus may be disadvantaged during the application consideration process for university admission.

But ITS Tutorial School can offer a supporting option for parents and students seeking alternative qualification in order to help improve their odds in securing international education here in Hong Kong or overseas. ITS is a registered Edexcel assessment center and thus conducts its own classes and exams for the UK IGCSE and A Levels GCE. The school also provides help for students preparing for other exams such as the SAT and IELTS exams. To support these services that we are offering, ITS has a team of tutors that specialize at the various subjects that students may need assistance with. ITS’s tutors are experienced teachers and very familiar with the syllabuses and materials related to UK qualifications and IB Advanced Diploma, and thus is trained to also assist students with the continuous assessment modules under the new NSS that is similar to the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Extended Essay (EE) components of the IB system. For further information, please visit ITS Tutorial School, now with campuses in Central and ITS Mongkok . ITS has English Tutors as well as tutors in other subjects. ITS website is also available in Chinsese at: ?????? – ??, ????, ?????????? .