Controversial plans by the British government to scrap the decades-old General Certificate of Secondary Education may force Hong Kong schools to revise their curriculum.
The GCSE examination has long been regarded as a short cut into top British universities because students usually score better in it than in the Hong Kong equivalent and the universities give the grades equal weight.
But a bright spot for Hong Kong is that the change could lead to greater value being placed on results in the local exam, formerly the Hong Kong Certificate of Education, replaced this year by the Hong Kong Diploma for Secondary Education.
British media reports yesterday quoted Education Minister Michael Gove as saying the government is preparing a consultation paper for a summer release on a proposed reform of the qualification system.
Media reports earlier said that Gove planned to scrap the GCSE exam altogether and replace it with new tests in response to critics' concerns about 'academic inflation'.
This was said to result from increasing competition between providers of the examination that lured schools to sign up for their version by lowering the standards.