High cost of sitting exams

I am concerned about the high fees charged to those wishing to sit the Advanced-Level (A-Level) examination.

I am a Form Seven commerce student and will be sitting my A-Level exam in March.

I just paid my exam fees and was surprised that they came to more than $2,000. I will take a total of six subjects, two at A-Level and four at Advanced Supplementary level.

Each subject costs, on average, more than $300. For example, the basic fee for computer application is $155, plus $165 (practical fees), which comes to $320. Language subjects are even more expensive. English and Chinese each cost $465.

I cannot understand why the fees that are charged are so high.

Is the Hong Kong Examinations Authority trying to make a profit from us? I understand that it costs money to correct the exam papers and there are some administration costs, but does that justify charging such high fees? I hope that the authority can try to minimise its costs so that we can pay less.