DSE 2022: changes to English exam draws mixed response from students, with some saying they struggled to finish paper
- About 47,000 students, the highest number of candidates across all subjects, took English reading and writing exams on Friday
- English tutor Alan Chan says this year’s reading test featured more questions compared with past papers
Changes to this year’s Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) English exams have drawn mixed responses from students, with some saying they struggled to finish the reading test due to the additional questions, and others welcoming the adjustments.
About 47,000 students – the highest number of candidates across all subjects – took the English reading and writing exams on Friday amid the city’s fifth wave of coronavirus infections, marking the first time since the pandemic began that infected students were allowed to sit the DSE.
Alan Chan, an English tutor from King’s Glory Education, said there were more questions in this year’s reading test compared with previous years which featured 40 questions each in parts A and B.
This year, the number increased to 42 questions per section, meaning that candidates had to answer a total of 84 questions in 90 minutes. The two passages in the paper were about the comics industry and artificial intelligence.
“They need to answer one question every minute on average. If they can’t do that, they’ll have no time to check their answers. So they need to answer them fast so that they can squeeze in time for some trickier questions.”