Significant drop in average TSA performance of students

The Education Bureau said there was a drop in the attainment rates of the Primary 3, Primary 6 and Form 3 students participating in the 2023 Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA). However, it added that the drop is within acceptable ranges.

The Bureau said Monday it received the 2023 TSA report of the assessment on three subjects - Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics  - submitted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). It was also the first assessment since the three-year suspension of TSA due to the pandemic.

The results revealed the percentage of pupils achieving basic competencies in three subjects - Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics - has decreased, while over 90 percent of the data reached a new low since 2006.

English suffered the most remarkable drop among the three subjects. The passing rate for P6 English dropped drastically from 72.8 percent in 2019 to 64.3 percent this year, an 8.5 percentage point reduction.

The attainment rate for P6 Chinese Language declined from 77.9 percent in 2019 to 71.1 percent in 2023. The score also fell from 84.2 percent to 78.3 percent for the primary six mathematics.

For the P3 and Form 3 students, achievement rates in all three main subjects fell by 0.3 to nearly three percentage points.

The Bureau said the drop is similar to the decline in students' performance under the epidemic as reflected in large-scale international assessments. 

Concerning the considerable decline in the P6 students' compliance rates, the Bureau stated that the HKEAA would further study the reasons.