Hong Kong's Diploma of Secondary Education has been accepted by the UK's Universities & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) onto the Tariff - a points-based system benchmarking qualifications against the UK's GCE A Level to assess their suitability for higher education.

Examinations & Assessment Authority Secretary-General Dr Francis Cheung said today, following a comparability study, the UCAS board endorsed an expert group's recommendations to include the diploma in the tariff system, representing a significant milestone in the international recognition of the diploma's qualification for access to higher education.

The Tariff covers a wide range of qualifications awarded by different examinations systems, including the Advanced Placement Programme in the US and Canada, the International Baccalaureate Diploma and the CIE Cambridge Pre-U Diploma.

"The inclusion of [the diploma] in the UCAS Tariff allows broad comparisons to be made between applicants holding different qualifications," Dr Cheung said.

Tariff points

Tariff points are awarded to 24 diploma subjects. Except for mathematics which carries a unique structure, an overall subject point score is recommended for the other 23 diploma subjects.

For example, the attainment of Level 5 in a diploma subject will be awarded 120 points and aligned to GCE A Level's Grade A. Level 3 will have 40 points, which is comparable to GCE A Level's Grade E.

Tariff points for the highest level of achievement, Level 5**, will be allocated when further evidence can be gathered after the first administration of the diploma examinations in 2012, Dr Cheung added.

Maths calculation

As the mathematics curriculum consists of a compulsory part and an extended part, and candidates' attainments in the two parts will be reported independently, tariff points will be awarded separately.

When students apply for UK university programmes requiring maths as an elective subject, the attainment and subsequent tariff points gained in both parts will be considered together. For example, a student getting Level 5* in the compulsory part and Level 5 in the extended part will be awarded 120 points, which is aligned to the GCE A Level's Grade A.

While most UK universities and colleges will formulate their admission policies with reference to UCAS Tariff points, Dr Cheung said the authority will continue to promote the qualification to universities in popular destination countries for further education like Australia, Canada and the US, and request for early indication of admission requirements for applicants holding the diploma.