HKDSE English case studies
HKDSE English · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The HKDSE English Language is a Category A core subject under the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education, administered by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). It is taken by senior secondary candidates in Hong Kong, and results are used for local university and higher education admission, civil service appointment and recognition by non-local institutions. The HKDSE English case studies are 5 cases and about 4,577 words.
1Answering a 'suggest' question: lifting the text versus making an inference
Ka-yan is 48 minutes into Paper 1 and has chosen Part B2. She has 20 minutes left and four questions unanswered, worth 11 marks in total: a 2-mark "implied meaning" question, a 4-mark question asking her to explain why the writer calls a company's claims "a stretch", a 1-mark vocabulary item on the word "ferment", and a 4-mark question asking her to summarise two criticisms of the company.
887 words, about 4 min2A letter to the editor that sounds like a text message
Marcus is 55 minutes into Paper 2 and has chosen Part B under the elective "Learning English through Social Issues". The task asks for a 400-word letter to the editor of a Hong Kong newspaper arguing that the city's single-use plastics ban should be extended to restaurants.
915 words, about 5 min3Selecting from a data file when half of it is a trap
In Paper 3 Part B, Sze-chit is writing Task 4: a 250-word email to the operator of his school tuck shop proposing three changes to the menu and justifying each. The data file contains six items: (1) a survey of 300 students carried out last month; (2) a letter from a nutritionist dated 2021; (3) the tuck shop's current price list; (4) a school newsletter from 2019 about a "healthy eating week"; (5) a WhatsApp message from the PE panel about an inter-school swimming gala; (6) a school policy memo requiring every item sold on campus to carry a nutrition label.
920 words, about 5 min4Two minutes of monologue in an eight-minute group discussion
In Paper 4, Tsz-wing is in a group of four. The prompt is: "Should smartphones be banned in secondary schools during school hours?" At 0:00 Tsz-wing begins and speaks for two minutes without pausing.
901 words, about 5 min5The SBA group whose preparation rewards coverage instead of interpretation
A Form 6 SBA group of four has chosen a memoir from the school's reading list. Two weeks before the assessment, the preparation is going wrong.
954 words, about 5 min