Why are more Hong Kong pupils opting for IB programme over DSE?
Number of IB students in the city has jumped nearly 20 per cent over past five years, with more preferring its ‘creative’ curriculum over the DSE
03:25
DSE vs IB: Hong Kong secondary students discuss differences between college exam systems
The number of students taking the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme in Hong Kong has increased by nearly 20 per cent over the past five years, with more students and parents preferring its flexibility to the city’s traditional, exam-oriented university entrance system.
More than 2,600 students taking the IB exam will learn their results on Sunday, while those of nearly 55,800 Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) candidates will be out the week after on July 16.
According to figures obtained by the Post from the IB body, the number of students – including those sitting the May and November sessions – rose from 2,193 in 2021 to 2,406 in 2024.
The figure for the May session in 2025 alone reached 2,628, which was 19.6 per cent higher than in 2021.
The number of global IB exam candidates also grew by 25.9 per cent from 170,637 in 2021 to 214,761 in 2024. The figure for the May session in 2025 was over 202,000.
While international curricula such as the IB were first offered by the city’s international or private independent schools, the Education Bureau said nine schools under the direct subsidy scheme (DSS), which are regarded as semi-private, currently provided both the IB and DSE curricula.