• General Questions related to Systems
• Exam Registration
• Special Examination Arrangements (SEA) Online Services
• School-based Assessment System (SBAS)

1. What is the hardware requirements for the registration system?
   A basic Internet-ready PC.
   
   
2. What is the software requirements for the registration system?
   (1) Web Browser - IE(Internet Explorer) 11; Firefox 66 or above, Chrome 73 or above with Cookies and JavaScript enabled.
   (2) Adobe Acrobat Reader 11 or above.
   (3) Adobe Acrobat Reader Asian and Extended Language Font Packs
   
   
3. How to create the group entries file for schools not using WebSAMS?
   Go to the function of “Create Group Entry” and download the file template and instructions, follows the instruction to prepare the data file.
   
   
4. How to change display language in the registration system?
   Choose "Select Language" function in the menu bar.

Exam Registration - (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions (Special Examination Arrangements) (Chinese version only)
Frequently Asked Questions (Application for Special Examination Arrangements) (Chinese version only)

Topics:
A. Administrative Procedures in using the School-based Assessment System (SBAS)
B. System-related Questions
C. General SBA Requirements and Procedures
D. Teacher Section
E. Panel Section
F. Principal Section
G. Submission of Samples of Students' Work

A. Administrative Procedures in using the School-based Assessment System (SBAS)

1. How should schools define teaching groups?
   Normally if a school has say 4 classes of students studying a certain subject, then schools are expected to enter the marks in 4 teaching groups. It is up to the Subject Panel to determine the most appropriate number of teaching groups for mark submission purpose. It should be noted that if schools choose to combine, say two classes into one teaching group in submitting the marks, then the SBAS will treat the two classes as a single unit and will not generate class-level mark summary and statistics.
   
   
2. Can schools simply create one single teaching group for a particular subject?
   It is up to schools to decide whether to do this or not. If the subject is a major subject with different classes/groups of students taking that subject, dividing students into separate teaching groups may facilitate the School Principal, Subject Panel and Subject Teachers to view the mark summary and statistics of individual groups.
   
   
3. Can a student be assigned to two teaching groups?
   No. Each student can only be assigned to one teaching group. In case more than one teacher is involved in assessing a particular student, the school should decide which teacher to be held responsible for entering the SBA marks for that student.
   
   
4. Do the stipulated deadlines for schools to submit the SBA marks refer to the deadlines for Subject Teachers to submit the marks to the Subject Panel?
   No. They refer to the deadlines by which School Principals have to endorse the marks to the HKEAA. It is advised that Subject Teachers and Subject Panels should input and confirm the SBA marks as soon as they are ready and leave sufficient time for the School Principal to endorse the SBA marks. Schools should also note that the submission of Student Work and Teacher Document (if any) follows the same deadline.
   
   
5. Can School Principal or Subject Panel amend the marks submitted by School Teachers?
   No. To protect the integrity of the marks, School Principal and/or Subject Panel cannot amend any marks submitted by Subject Teachers. If necessary, they have to reject the marks to the Subject Teachers for any follow up actions.
   
   
6. Can schools ask teaching assistants to help inputting the SBA marks?
   Yes. School Principals may exercise their professional judgment in assigning suitable staff to enter the SBA marks into the SBAS. However, Subject Teachers and Subject Panels are responsible for the accuracy of the marks before they are submitted to the School Principal.
   
   
7. Do schools need to submit any hardcopy of the mark summary sheets to the HKEAA?
   No. Schools need not submit any mark summary sheets to the HKEAA. They are for schools’ internal reference only.
   
   
8. Is there any special arrangement in SBA mark submission for schools taking part in the Network Programme in offering a certain subject to students? (Note: Network Programme refers to subjects jointly offered by more than one school with students taught and assessed by the same teacher(s).)
   Individual schools will be responsible for entering and submitting marks for their own students. When the Subject Panel submits the marks to the School Principal, he/she should indicate the other schools in the Network Programme in the SBAS. In case schools do not have any Subject Teacher teaching that subject, School Principal should assign suitable staff to take up the roles of Subject Teacher and Subject Panel in submitting the marks.
   
   

B. System-related Questions

1. What passwords will be provided by the HKEAA?
   The HKEAA will provide schools with the user ID and default passwords for School Principals and School Administrators to access the HKDSE Examination Online Services. For the SBAS, the School Administrator will set up the user accounts for Subject Panels and Subject Teachers.
   
   
2. What should users do if they forget their login password to the HKDSE Examination Online Services?
   There is a “Forgot Login Password” function in the Online Services to help reset the login password for users. They may contact the School Administrator for assistance, if necessary.
   
   
3. Do Subject Teachers need to import student data into the SBAS?
   No. Data of all students who have registered the corresponding subject in HKDSE will be put into SBAS automatically.
   
   
4. Do Subject Teachers need to use the same computer to complete the whole mark submission process?
   Subject Teachers can perform the mark submission process using any computers provided that they can access the internet.
   
   

C. General SBA Requirements and Procedures

1. What are the SBA requirements for students repeating S5?
   They have to meet the full SBA requirements as other S5 students during the repeating year.
   
   
2. What are the SBA requirements for S6 repeaters?
   If repeaters choose to re-enter the examination as school candidates, they will be required to complete the SBA for S6, and their S6 SBA marks will be proportionally adjusted to the full weighting of SBA for that subject. Schools should refer to the SBA Teachers’ Handbooks of relevant subjects for detailed requirements. If repeaters register as private candidates, they do not need to do the SBA and their results will be based entirely on their performance in the public examination.
   
   
3. Do schools need to apply to the HKEAA for granting exemption to students from part or whole of the SBA?
   Yes. School Principals need to submit their application to the HKEAA and provide relevant support documents (e.g. medical certificates) for special consideration. If exemption is granted to the student, schools will be notified and the annotation “E” should be entered in the mark column(s) for the student concerned. Subject Teachers should not enter “E” in the SBAS for the student without prior approval from the HKEAA.
   
   
4. Under what circumstances can students be exempted from the SBA?
   Special approval will only be granted with sufficient justifications, e.g. where the student has genuine difficulties in completing the SBA or the student is absent from school for an extended period of time. The matter should be brought to the attention of the HKEAA by the School Principal for special consideration, which may include exemption from part or whole of the SBA. Schools should note that, under normal circumstances, exemption would not be granted if a student is absent only on the day of the assessment, as the SBA can be conducted during the learning and teaching process and schools should strive to make an alternative arrangement for the student to complete the assessment.
   
   
5. Other FAQs on general SBA requirements and procedures
   http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/sba/faqs/
   
   

D. Teacher Section

1. I cannot find the subject which I need to input SBA marks.
   This is probably because you are not assigned as a S6 teacher of the corresponding subject in the system. Please ask your school administrator to use the Maintain User Group function in the School Information Management system to check your current role assignment.
   
   
2. Some of my students are missing, what is wrong?
   The students concerned are probably not assigned to one of your teaching groups. Please ask the subject panel to check whether the student has been assigned to any one of your teaching groups.
   
   
3. I get the “Student not found” error when using the Batch Input Marks function.
   You get this error if you change the Class Name, Class No., Doc No., Teaching Group Name, Student Name (Eng) or Student Name (Chi) in the mark template. The mark template is for input marks only. You should not change any other information contained in it. If you find the Teaching Group Name is incorrect, please contact the subject panel to change it. If you find the student particulars not correct, please contact the School Examination Officer to check the HKDSE registration record and make necessary changes.
   
   
4. What do I do if there are students transferred into my class from another school?
   ‘Transfer students’ are S6 students transferred from one school to another after S5. You need to indicate these students, if any, by checking the ‘R/T’ box during the mark input.
   
   
5. What is the meaning of “Language Medium”? Why is it necessary to indicate the language medium in which students complete the SBA in the submission process?
   “Language Medium” refers to the medium used by the student in completing his/her SBA work. The information on language medium used for students’ SBA work can facilitate the review / re-assessment of samples of students’ performance by the HKEAA. In addition, the data will be useful for the post-examination analysis.
   
   
6. Can I change the layout of the mark template?
   No. You should not change the mark template layout otherwise the system may not recognize the data in the mark template correctly. However, you can copy and paste marks from other Excel files into the mark template.
   
   
7. Can I input marks to the system by several batches?
   Yes, you can enter and save part of the required marks into the system through Input Mark or Batch Input Mark functions. However, you have to make sure all the required marks are entered before you submit the marks to the Subject Panel.
   
   
8. Why the “Confirm Batch Input Marks” button in the Batch Input Marks function is disabled?
   If you change the student particulars, including Class Name, Class No., Doc No., Teaching Group Name, Student Name (Eng) or Student Name (Chi), in the mark template, the system cannot match the students in the mark template with the records kept in the system. In that case, the system would not allow you to update or upload marks into it. The mark template is for input marks only. You cannot change any other information in it. If you find the Teaching Group Name is incorrect, please contact the subject panel to change it. If you find the student particulars not correct, please contact the School Examination Officer to check the HKDSE registration record and make necessary changes.
   
   

E. Panel Section

1. I cannot find the subject which I am responsible for.
   This is probably because you are not assigned as a S6 panel of the corresponding subject or the subject is not marked as offered in the current examination year. Please ask your School Administrator to use the Maintain User Group and Maintain Subject Offered functions in the School Information Management system to check the current setting.
   
   
2. Do I need to import student data into the system?
   No. Data of all students who have registered the corresponding subject in HKDSE will be put into SBAS automatically.
   
   
3. Do I need to submit marks for students who have not registered for HKDSE?
   No. Students who have not registered for HKDSE cannot be found in the SBAS.
   
   
4. I cannot find the student to assign him/her to a teaching group.
   This is probably because the student has not registered for the corresponding subject in HKDSE. Please ask the School Examination Officer to check the HKDSE registration record and make sure the examination fee is paid.
   
   
5. Why the “Submit to Principal” button in the Submit to Principal page is disabled?
   To submit marks to a principal, all students who have registered the corresponding subject in HKDSE must have their marks submitted to the subject panel. If a registered student is not assigned to any teaching group, or a teacher has not submitted the marks to the subject panel, then the “Submit to Principal” button would be disabled.
   
   
6. If I am a teacher and panel of the same subject, do I need to submit marks to panel?
   Yes. You need to input all the marks to the system, submit the marks to the panel, and then submit the marks to the principal.
   
   
7. Why the uploaded student work files disappear?
   If a principal rejects marks to a subject panel then the list of students who are chosen to submit student work would be cleared. You can no longer find the uploaded files in the Upload Teacher Document / Student Work function. After you revise and submit the marks to principal again, the system will generate a new list of students for submitting student work. If a student in the newly generated list was also chosen in the first submission then the corresponding file would reappear in the Upload Teacher Document / Student Work function.
   
   

F. Principal Section

1. Why the “Submit to HKEAA” button in the Submit to HKEAA page is disabled?
   To submit marks to HKEAA, all students who have registered the corresponding subject in HKDSE must have their marks submitted to the principal. You should contact the subject panel to make sure that all the required marks are submitted.
   
   
2. Can I change the marks after I submitted them to HKEAA?
   You can change the submitted marks within the mark submission period, just withdraw the marks from HKEAA and reject them to the subject panel. You should then ask the subject panel to reject the marks to the responsible teacher and have the marks changed accordingly. However, you cannot withdraw the marks from HKEAA after the mark submission period.
   
   

G. Submission of Samples of Students’ Work

1. Does the SBAS support collection of students’ SBA work?
   The SBAS supports online submission of samples of students’ work in S6 for the majority of subjects. It supports most common document format, including PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint etc. Special arrangements will be made for relevant subjects to facilitate collection of samples using an offline mode. Schools will be informed of the detailed arrangement at the beginning of the school year.
   
   
2. Are students’ samples of work to be chosen by schools?
   Except for the subject English Language, the samples will be chosen by the HKEAA, using stratified random sampling techniques. Schools should inform their students to keep safe custody of their work.
   
   
3. How many files per student can be submitted to the HKEAA?
   The work for each student should be zipped to one single file if the work contains more than one file. However, if the work for a student contains only one file, there is no need to perform any zipping procedure. The system can accept files of any common extensions.
   
   
4. What is the maximum file size allowed for each student’s work? What can I do if the size of any student’s work exceeds the limit?
   Except for Design and Technology (for which student work is not to be submitted online), the size of each student’s work file should be no more than 15MB. (Note: For English Language, Visual Arts and Information and Communication Technology, the size of each student’s work file should not exceed 2GB, 40MB and 100MB respectively.) If the size of any student’s work exceeds the limit, you are advised to downsize the file so that it can be accepted by the System.
   
   
5. How should I name the file of the work of a student? What does the ‘Student Document Number’ mean?
   The System has no specific requirements for file naming, but it is advised to name the files in a way that is easy to identify. Teachers may create file names for Student Work and Teacher Document according to the following naming conventions:
   [Subject Abbreviation] [(6-digit Student Document Number)].[File extension]
   e.g. CHEM(123456).zip, VARTS(362880).pdf, CLANG(246800).doc, ELANG(517902).mp4
   The Student Document Number comes from the first 6 digits of the student’s identity card.
   e.g. HKID No. = K362880(1), the document number is then ‘362880’.
   
   
6. Is the principal required to endorse the student work samples?
   Online endorsement of the samples by the principal is not required.
   
   
7. Can schools submit hardcopy of the student work samples to the HKEAA?
   No, schools have to submit the student work samples in digital format.
   
   
8. What should schools do if they cannot submit the work of a student chosen by the HKEAA?
   Schools may apply to submit the work of another student in that cohort instead. The Subject Panel should contact the SBA Team of the HKEAA (3628 8064) to request for a change of student(s) for work submission. The Subject Panel will be requested to generate the document ‘Change of Student Work for SBA Work Submission’ and fax the completed document to the HKEAA. After confirming the arrangement, the HKEAA will fax an amended version of the Student List to the Subject Panel.
   
   
9. What do I do if the work of a student chosen by the HKEAA involves irregularities such as mark penalty being imposed due to plagiarism or late submission?
   If the work of any chosen student involves any irregularities (such as mark penalty being imposed due to less serious plagiarism or late submission), the school may apply to submit the work of another student in that cohort instead. The Subject Panel should contact the SBA Team of the HKEAA (3628 8064) to request for a change of student(s) for work submission. The Subject Panel will be requested to generate the document ‘Change of Student Work for SBA Work Submission’ and fax the completed document to the HKEAA. After confirming the arrangement, the HKEAA will fax an amended version of the Student List to the Subject Panel.