Which cohort is my child in?
This page answers one question: for a child who entered Primary 5 in September 2026, what changed in the SSPA weights, when the first submission falls, and what parents can usefully ask the school now. The weighting formula, the full worked example and how to use the calculator are on theSSPA calculator. This page does not repeat that arithmetic.
Today is September 2026. The switch is dated from which cohort’s first submission falls after the reform takes effect, not from a vague “whatever year they are in now”.
| Year group in 2026/27 | Scheme | Allocation cycle | Secondary 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary 6 | 999632 | 2025/2027 | September 2027 |
| Primary 5 | 88844222 | 2026/2028 | September 2028 |
| Primary 4 and below | 88844222 | Their later cycle | From their Primary 5 second term |
Old and new weights side by side
Both schemes use a base of 38. The Education Bureau announced the change on 16 October 2024. It takes effect from the Primary 5 second term of 2026/27. Schools may include Religious Education (weight 2) and/or Putonghua (weight 1). Whether those subjects are offered and submitted is a school decision; that option is unchanged under the new scheme.
| Subject | 999632 | Share of 38 | 88844222 | Share of 38 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 9 | 23.68% | 8 | 21.05% |
| English | 9 | 23.68% | 8 | 21.05% |
| Mathematics | 9 | 23.68% | 8 | 21.05% |
| General Studies / Humanities + Science | GS 6 | 15.79% | 4 each, 8 combined | 21.05% |
| Visual Arts | 3 | 7.89% | 2 | 5.26% |
| Music | 2 | 5.26% | 2 | 5.26% |
| Physical Education | Not included | n/a | 2 | 5.26% |
General Studies is replaced by Humanities and Science; the new weights follow those subjects. Switch the calculator to “New 88844222” before entering a Primary 5 mark. Leaving it on “Current 999632” applies the old scheme to the wrong cohort.
What actually changes
Each of Chinese, English and Mathematics moves from 23.68% to 21.05%. Single-subject influence is a little flatter; the three together still take the largest share. Humanities plus Science come to 8/38 = 21.05%, above General Studies at 15.79%. Dropping General Studies does not remove that block of the score. Visual Arts moves from 7.89% to 5.26%. Music stays at 5.26%. PE appears for the first time, at 5.26%.
After weighting, the computer still standardises the three submissions, then adjusts them by the average of the school’s two most recent Pre-S1 HKAT samples. The mechanism is unchanged. Which two sample years the 2026/2028 cycle will use has not been published; this site does not guess. How bands are cut is on thebanding estimator.
A fictional pupil, Hang (小衡), shows the direction of change with the same marks under both schemes. The marks are not from any real school: Chinese 72, English 88, Mathematics 70, General Studies 90, Visual Arts 82, Music 80. Under the new scheme Humanities and Science both take the General Studies mark of 90, for comparison only; PE is entered as 78.
Old scheme: 72×9 + 88×9 + 70×9 + 90×6 + 82×3 + 80×2 = 3016; 3016÷3800 = 79.37%. New scheme: 72×8 + 88×8 + 70×8 + 90×4 + 90×4 + 82×2 + 80×2 + 78×2 = 3040; 3040÷3800 = 80.00%. Hang is not strongest in the three cores; Humanities, Science and the arts sit higher, so the new percentage rises slightly. The calculator page works a different set (Chinese 80, English 75, Mathematics 90) in full, including the PE-exemption case where the base becomes 36. Use that page for the long arithmetic; do not add the two examples together.
When the first submission falls
The three submissions are unchanged: Primary 5 second term (呈一), Primary 6 first term (呈二), Primary 6 second term (呈三). Schools submit internal-assessment marks. There is no territory-wide paper. The Education Bureau has not published any public weighting among the three terms. This site will not invent a “third submission counts more” formula.
For the first 88844222 cohort, the first submission sits in the Primary 5 second term of 2026/27, roughly March to June 2027. Exact exam and term-mark dates are set by the school. The second and third submissions fall in Primary 6 of 2027/28. What parents need from the school now is which tests, exams or coursework count toward each subject’s term mark, not a homemade rewrite of the weights.
This cohort is the 2026/2028 cycle, with Secondary 1 in September 2028. Discretionary Places, Central Allocation and results dates for that cycle have not been published. The Bureau publishes each cycle’s calendar in the preceding September. The table below is the published 2025/2027 cycle (today’s Primary 6): a pattern of “application window, successful notice, choice form, results”, not this Primary 5 cohort’s dates. The full calendar is on theSSPA timeline.
| 2025/2027 cycle (pattern only) | What happens |
|---|---|
| Mid-November 2026 | Parents register an eSSPA account with iAM Smart+ |
| 4–18 January 2027 | Discretionary Places application window |
| 31 March 2027 | Participating schools notify successful (正取) parents |
| 8 April to 5 May 2027 | Central Allocation e-platform window |
| 6 July 2027 | Discretionary Places and Central Allocation results announced together |
PE assessment and exemption
Under the new scheme PE has weight 2, or 5.26% of the base of 38. The other published fact is this: a student exempted on certified health grounds drops PE from the total. The base falls from 38 to 36. The other subject weights stay the same. This page does not describe how schools assess PE. How a term mark is built is a question for the school.
Exemption does not automatically lower the percentage. It depends on PE relative to the other subjects. The calculator page uses one fictional set to show the percentage rising from 80.00% to 80.83% after exemption. To try the school’s own marks, tick the PE-exemption box there.
What parents can do
Ask the class teacher or subject teachers what tests, exams or coursework make up the term mark in Chinese, English, Mathematics, Humanities, Science, Visual Arts, Music and PE, and whether Religious Education or Putonghua will be submitted. The Bureau requires the internal marks for three named terms. It does not require every test to count. The mix can differ from school to school.
The reform flattens each core subject a little and lifts Humanities plus Science to 21.05%, close to one core subject. PE and Music each take 5.26%. A common parent habit is to spread revision time with those shares in view, rather than drilling only the three cores and dropping Humanities, Science, the arts or PE. That is a habit, not a rule. All three submissions are standardised. It is unwise to spend the year only on the first submission, or to assume the third can “make up” the first two: the Bureau has published no weighting among the three.
Use the calculator to see a 0-to-100 mark set as a new-scheme percentage, and to compare direction against the old weights. It does not merge the three submissions and it does not output a band. Choose “New 88844222”. Tick Religious Education or Putonghua only if the school really submits them. Tick PE exemption only if the child has a certified exemption.
Common misunderstandings
“The new scheme only changes the Primary 5 second-term submission.” It does not. For this cohort, 呈一, 呈二 and 呈三 are all scored 88844222. The Bureau uses all three.
“General Studies is gone, so that part of the score no longer matters.” It does. Humanities plus Science come to 21.05%, above General Studies at 15.79%.
“A weak PE mark will drag the whole profile down.” PE is 5.26% of the base. It counts; it is not the decisive subject. With an exemption the base becomes 36. Whether the percentage rises or falls depends on PE relative to the rest.
“Bands are harder to obtain under the new scheme.” The Bureau does not say that. Bands are equal thirds of adjusted scores, computed only when allocation runs, and never released. This site only estimates; it cannot compute an actual band.
“Today’s Primary 6 also switches to the new scheme.” They do not. Primary 6 in 2026/27 stays on 999632. They are the 2025/2027 cycle, with Secondary 1 in September 2027.
Next steps
To weight the school’s marks under 88844222 and to read the full worked example, see theSSPA calculator(select the new scheme). Published dates for today’s Primary 6 are on theSSPA timeline, as a pattern only. After weighting comes banding: see thebanding estimator.
FAQ
Will Primary 6 pupils in 2026/27 switch to 88844222?
No. Primary 6 in 2026/27 is the 2025/2027 cycle, with Secondary 1 in September 2027. All three submissions stay on 999632. The new scheme takes effect from the Primary 5 second term of 2026/27. The first cohort is the year group that entered Primary 5 in September 2026 and enters Secondary 1 in September 2028.
Does the new scheme change only the Primary 5 second-term submission?
No. The Education Bureau standardises the Primary 5 second-term and Primary 6 first- and second-term marks, then applies school adjustment. All three submissions are used. For the cohort that entered Primary 5 in September 2026, every submission is scored 88844222.
If PE is exempted, what happens to the base?
A student exempted on certified health grounds drops PE from the total. The base falls from 38 to 36; the other weights stay the same. Whether the percentage rises or falls depends on PE relative to the other subjects. The full arithmetic is in the worked example on the SSPA calculator page.
Have Discretionary Places dates been published for this cohort?
Not yet. Pupils who entered Primary 5 in September 2026 are in the 2026/2028 cycle, with Secondary 1 in September 2028. The Bureau publishes each cycle’s dates in the preceding September. The 2025/2027 dates are only a pattern; see the SSPA timeline.
Does the new scheme make a band harder to obtain?
The Education Bureau does not say that. Bands split adjusted scores into three equal thirds. They are computed only when the allocation programme runs, and are never released to parents. The reform changes how internal marks are weighted, not how many pupils sit in each third. This site cannot compute an actual band; it only estimates.
How do Humanities and Science replace General Studies in the score?
The primary curriculum replaces General Studies with Humanities and Science; the new weights follow those subjects. Each has weight 4, together 8/38 = 21.05%, above General Studies at 15.79%. How a school splits term marks between the two subjects is a school decision.