The end of a teenage rite of passage after 32 years

For 32 years, the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examinations (A-levels) were the bane of every school pupil's existence - determining their destiny and serving as the gatekeeper to university.

A-levels exams were taken by Form Seven pupils for the last time this year - ending a tradition that has become a rite of passage.

The number of A-level candidates has gone up from 12,164 when they started in 1980 to 41,572 this year.

And one adult who remembers the two years spent studying for the A-levels is 35-year-old Teresa Ng Sau-yin. The fashion merchandiser took the exam in 1995 and achieved grades within her expectations.

'What I remember most fondly from those two years was studying in the library with friends, trying to figure out the practice questions,' said Ng, cracking a smile.

But Ng, who went on to study fashion merchandising in Canada, recalls: 'We were told that if we obtained good grades, we would enjoy brighter prospects and get into a local university. And if we didn't, then we wouldn't be able to get as good a job ... I was quite worried for my future.'