The best of British under review

The UK curriculum popular in Hong Kong involves more exams and tests than its North American alternatives but allows for specialisation

The British education system has traditionally been the model for many of Hong Kong's international schools and the English Schools Foundation, which draw on a curriculum that has been developed and refined over more than 10 years.

The National Curriculum of England and Wales covers education from age five to 16 and is divided into four stages, plus the foundation stage which covers pre-school education. Students may be tested at the end of each Key Stage, though national tests have been adopted more flexibly in Hong Kong.

During Key Stages One and Two, primary schools teach the core subjects of English, maths and science, plus the foundation subjects of history, geography, music, PE, art and design, ICT and design and technology. Stress is placed on reading, writing and maths through the British government's literacy and numeracy strategies. These provide schools with study programmes and materials for daily literacy and numeracy hours, designed to ensure a rigorous focus on these basic skills. Some schools in Hong Kong have adopted them.

The first three years of secondary school - from age 11 to 14 - are covered by Key Stage Three, while Key Stage Four covers the preparation period for General Certificate of Education (GCSE) exams from age 14 to 16.

During Key Stage Three, students follow all the primary subjects plus a modern foreign language, and citizenship, which aims to prepare children to take part in a democratic society.