Grading and UK Equivalence
The results of the HKCEE are expressed in terms of seven grades A - U (or 5*-1 and U for Chinese and English) other than French.
| Grade | Point(s) | Recognition | Nickname |
|---|---|---|---|
| A (5*) | 5 | Distinction or IGCSE A* | Rocket(Shape),Distinction,Tincted (from Dis'tinct'ion) |
| B (5*) | 4 | Credit or IGCSE A*(A for Chinese and English) | Big Cred (previously Certificate's B, C was counted as 'Credit') |
| C (5) | 3 | Credit or IGCSE A(B for Chinese and English) | Small Cred (at the same as B), Helmet(Shape) |
| D (4) | 2 | Pass or IGCSE A(C for Chinese and English) | Big belly, Bald (for the shape), Dog (Alphabet D) |
| E (3) | 1 | Minimum requirement for employment purposes, a pass in HKCEE or IGCSE B/C (D for Chinese and English) | Comb, fork (The shape), pass (The minimum pass result) |
| F (1) | 0 | IGCSE D | Machine gun (shape), Fat (Chinese idiom meaning "failed"),fail |
| U (UNCL) | 0 | Unclassified, a grade lower than F | UNCLE (the short form), holding a bowl (Shape and holding a bowl is beggar's mark. It means they will have no future and must be beggars.) |
In the past, there were two other grades below UNCL: G and H. They were called "Grenade" and "Ladder".
Results below grade 'F' are designated as unclassified ("UNCL"), assigned either when candidates hand in unanswered or unintelligible paper(s), or when candidates are assumed to have cheated. Candidates not taking the exam are designated as Absent ('ABS') for that subject.
Before 2002 grades A - F were each divided into two "fine grades", making the original number of grades available twelve, from A(01) to F(12). The fine grades in both HKCEE and HKALE were lifted in 2002, as they were accused of being discriminatory to students.
Most of the results are graded "on the curve" but at the same time a cutoff score for each grade is also used. Obtaining an A is very difficult, especially for languages in the past system, where only about 1.5–3% of students received A's. On average, only the top 3–4% in each subject can get an A. The cutoff scores vary greatly from subject to subject and from year to year. To give a clearer picture, for Chinese, A-grades are sometimes given for candidates having scored 70 or above, while for Mathematics, an A invariably translates to a score in excess of 90. The cutoff scores are not released by the HKEAA publicly; the information is only available to teachers.
Official statistics can be found on the HKEAA website: http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/doc/fd/2004cee/39-60.pdf
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong Certificate Of Education Examination
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