Pre-S1 HKAT papers and practice: the paper structure, and why there is no official past paper

What this page answers

Many parents search for “pre S1 past paper pdf” or “HKAT mock paper” hoping to find the real thing. The direct answer comes first: the Education Bureau has never published an official paper, sample question or public marking scheme. This page then sets out the structure of the papers, explains why none can be downloaded, and lists what can reasonably be used for practice.

Which test applies depends on the year group. A student in Primary 6 in 2026/27 (cycle 2025/2027, Secondary 1 in September 2027) meets the test on 13 July 2027, an odd year and not a sampling year. A student in Primary 5 in 2026/27 is in the first 88844222 cohort; that cohort’s test falls in July 2028, an even year and therefore a sampling year. The Bureau has not yet announced the 2028 date, and this page does not guess it.

Paper structure

The table follows Education Bureau Circular Memorandum 62/2026, which sets out the 2026 arrangements. 2026 was a sampling year, held on 14 July. Detailed 2027 administration will be published in 2026/27, so the 2026 design is the latest one published. The 2027 date (13 July), the order of the three papers and the 50 minutes per paper are already in the Bureau’s circular.

There is a break between papers, and students are seated about 10 minutes before each paper for instructions. The listening audio is played once, so a lapse in attention cannot be recovered. Students with a listening exemption sit only the reading and writing part: 40 minutes for Chinese and 35 for English. Students bring the allocation slip (派位證).

In the Bureau’s words, the test lets secondary schools gauge newcomers’ strengths and weaknesses in Chinese, English and Mathematics so they can plan support. Some schools also use the scores to form classes; that is school practice, not a Bureau rule. For the other arrangements on the day, such as bad weather and registration, seeafter allocation results; they are not repeated here.

Why there is no official past paper

The Bureau has designed the test so that no papers are released; parents are not simply missing them. Three rules combine. First, the Bureau’s Q&A says a new paper is set every year by frontline teachers and subject professionals from the curriculum, and papers are not reused, so there is no back catalogue to practise on. Second, parents may not view scripts, and schools must not disclose the content to anyone unauthorised. Third, the Bureau will not supply an electronic version of the questions.

Some websites claim the Bureau occasionally releases sample questions. The Bureau’s Q&A says otherwise: there are no official past papers, specimen papers or public marking schemes, and no typical scores are published. A download labelled as a real or official paper did not come from the Bureau. School internal papers and other people’s scans are also protected by copyright and should not be shared or downloaded. The Bureau’s online learning and teaching platform (WLTS) closed on 28 September 2026 and merged into STAR, which is for schools only, so parents have no official question bank to log in to.

In short, there is no official past paper. Time spent hunting for a file that does not exist is better spent on the legitimate material below.

Odd years and even years

Since 2006 the Bureau has sampled schools’ test scripts in even years, and the average of a primary school’s two most recent samples adjusts that school’s later cohorts’ internal marks. In odd years the Bureau prepares the three papers and marking schemes for schools to choose whether to adopt; it is not a sampling year. 2027 is an odd year: each school decides whether to run the test, and schools that do must follow the Bureau’s date, times and order.

For a family this means the 2027 scores will not adjust any primary school’s internal marks, and the sitting student’s own result does not directly affect their allocation, which was already announced on 6 July. A 2026/27 Primary 6 child carries no allocation pressure into this test; its main effect is on how the secondary school later understands and supports the new intake.

What can be used for practice

HKEAA’s TSA primary papers. HKEAA publishes the Territory-wide System Assessmentprimary papers and marking schemes indexfor Chinese, English and Mathematics. It is the only official, free, P6-level paper set. Three caveats apply. The 2020, 2021 and 2022 TSAs were cancelled, and what was published for those years is originally prepared practice material, not a live administration. The 2024 and 2026 P6 TSAs were voluntary for schools, not a territory-wide P6 assessment. And the TSA is neither the internal assessment (呈分試) nor the HKAT; it assesses the same Primary 3 and Primary 6 basic competencies in Chinese, English and Mathematics. The full list of legitimate free material is inthe free practice papers directory.

Publishers’ Pre-S1 mock papers. Publishers such as 教圖 (HKEP) and 躍思 (JumpStart) sell products of this kind. They are commercial products, not official papers. They can familiarise a child with how questions are laid out, but their difficulty, length and marks should not be read as a guide to the real test, because the Bureau publishes none of that.

School textbooks and homework. The papers are set from the curriculum by teachers and subject professionals, so the most dependable preparation is securing the primary curriculum itself. Reviewing textbooks and corrected homework usually does more than chasing guesses at questions.

Habits that match the format. Mathematics allows no calculator, so practise written calculation regularly. The Chinese and English papers include listening that is played once, so practise listening attentively without replays and finishing reading and writing within a time limit. Each paper is 50 minutes, which suits timed practice.

How it differs from a school’s placement test

The Pre-S1 HKAT is coordinated by the Bureau, which sets the date, times and order of papers. Some secondary schools run their own placement or entry tests; that is the school’s own arrangement and the Bureau does not regulate it. Content, dates, whether it is held and how the scores are used vary by school. Material labelled as a “Secondary 1 placement mock” therefore should not be treated as an HKAT paper, nor as a particular school’s test. Follow the allocated secondary’s own notices and do not assume every school works the same way.

Common misunderstandings

“The Bureau releases past papers.” It does not. A new paper is set every year, and there are no official past papers, specimen papers or public marking schemes. Sites that say the Bureau occasionally releases samples contradict the Bureau’s own Q&A.

“A publisher’s mock paper is the real paper.” It is not. Mock papers are commercial products written by the publisher, unrelated to the papers the Bureau sets, and useful only for familiarity and time management.

“The HKAT affects which secondary my child is allocated.” It does not. The test is held after results are announced, and the Bureau states it does not directly affect the sitting student’s allocation. 2027 is also not a sampling year.

“We can check the script afterwards.” You cannot. Parents may not view scripts, schools must not disclose the content to unauthorised people, and the Bureau supplies no electronic version of the questions.

“An absent student can sit a make-up.” They cannot. To protect confidentiality there is no make-up test; absentees submit an absence letter to the school.

Next steps

For the results, registration and test-day timetable and the bad-weather rules, seeafter allocation results. For legitimate free practice material, seethe free practice papers directory. To see where this test sits in the whole transfer process, seethe SSPA process.

FAQ