IB or HKDSE?

[Les Sadie]

With HKDSE under the JUPAS and IB Diploma under NON JUPAS, in terms of chances of acceptance into Hongkong Universities, which path is better for my Year 6 child going to Year 7/S1? Pls help...

 

[GeoDenise]

We asked our education expert, Anne Murphy of ITS (ITS Tutorial School Hong Kong - IB | A Level | IGCSE | SAT | HKDSE | IELTS tutor tuition) and her reply was:

It will depend on the programme your child is planning to apply for in six years because different departments will have a different quota of students for jupas and non jupas

In general though, there are more students competing in the jupas stream but there are more places available, while fewer students competing in the non jupas stream but also fewer places available, so it’s like asking which has a better chance of getting in when there are 180 places available out of 18,000 candidates in jupas vs 10 places available out of 1000 candidates in non jupas.

 

[Les Sadie]

Thanks for the reply. Some things are getting a wee bit clearer now.

 

[luckyjone]

it also depends on what type of learning fits your kids better

IB -- integrate different subjects, focus on broad understanding of the world, help develop critical thinking, analysis. To succeed you not only need to know the basic facts, but how to apply the concepts in new settings.
Great for curious/active students, bad for passive/lazy students

HKDSE -- focus on subjects facts, generally deeper knowledge than IB, but not much training on thinking. A student with great memory can get excellent grades, without understanding what he's memorizing
Great for passive, bad for active

 

[Les Sadie]

Thank you so much for the reply luckyjone. Really appreciate it. We have decided now. My son is continuing with the IB system. He's much of an inquirer, I think...