Hong Kong students outshine their British counterparts in GCSE exams
Results are twice as good as UK state schools, says principal
Hong Kong students dramatically outperformed their British counterparts in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations this year.
Results released yesterday had teachers at the English Schools Foundation (ESF) and local international schools reaching for the thesaurus to praise their students, while in Britain the overall GCSE pass rate fell for the first time.
'In general terms, our results are twice as good as state schools in the UK, and marginally better than UK private schools,' said David James, the principal of ESF's Island School.
The GCSE is equivalent to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and is generally taken by students wishing to continue their education overseas, particularly at British institutions.
Mary Peart, head of the international secondary education department at the German Swiss International School, said teachers and students were thrilled with the results, while Barry Drake, head of the secondary school at the Chinese International School, was 'immensely pleased'.
Success stories at Island School included Brian Ip Pak-in, 16, who scored eight starred As and two As, and Andrea Platts, 16, who received eight starred As and one A.
'I was really nervous coming to get my results this morning, but now I just feel great because I did much better than I expected,' said Brian, who wants to study medicine at the University of Hong Kong after his A-levels.Two brothers at the same school achieved top grades in both the GCSE examinations and A-levels. Jairaj Singh, 16, scored seven starred As, one A and one B, while his sibling Sumer, 18, earned five straight As in his A-levels, grades that guarantee his place at Oxford to study material science.
A breakdown of the grades compares favourably with those in Britain.
At Island School, 95.9 per cent of GCSE entries were graded A to C - a school record - compared with 58 per cent in Britain, while 49.7 per cent were graded starred A or A, compared with 17 per cent at British schools.
At the German Swiss International School, 95.2 per cent of entries were graded A to C, and 61.9 per cent were starred A or A.
At the Chinese International School, which offers the International General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations, 99 per cent of students achieved five or more grades of C and above.
One similarity between GCSE results in Hong Kong and the UK was that girls again outperformed boys, in accordance with global trends.
The GCSE results came days after the release of A-level results, which revealed an equally impressive haul.
At Island School, 38 per cent of all entries were As, while 88 per cent were A to C grade - another school record.
At the German Swiss International School, 42.4 per cent were As and 90.4 per cent A to C grade.
But while Hong Kong teachers revelled in the results last night, in Britain, teachers, parents and the government were locked in the annual debate over whether the glut of A grades at A-levels meant students were performing better or examinations were easier.
Graham Ranger, the ESF's secondary education officer, said GCSE examinations were just as challenging as before. The high number of A grades was due to improvements in education and teaching.
However, the foundation said it would probably scrap A-levels over the next few years in favour of the International Baccalaureate.