Primary One Admission
All government and aided primary schools admit in two rounds: in the first round you pick one school to try for, in the second the EDB allocates by where you live.
邊個要睇：下學年入讀小一嘅小朋友，目標官立或資助小學
Process
- 9 months
Discretionary Places
You can choose any school in the territory, but you can only apply to one. Applying to more than one invalidates your application, and once submitted, it cannot be changed. If you have siblings studying there or parents working there, you fall under "unrestricted places"; the rest are ranked by a points table.
- 1 months
Central Allocation
If you didn't get in the first round, you enter this round and fill in a form. It has two parts: a small part not restricted by school net (up to 3 schools), and the main part must be within your residential school net. Results are released in 6 month.
- 6 months
knocking on the door (direct approach for a vacancy)
After results, approach your preferred schools directly; whether and how they accept is up to each school.
Easiest to get wrong
- Primary One looks at your address, secondary school looks at your primary school — the two mechanisms run in opposite directions, and this is the most common pitfall for parents. Choosing which district to live in now and which secondary school you'll be allocated six years later are two different things.
- Discretionary Places allows only one application, and it's irrevocable. Applying to more than one, or submitting both electronic and paper, voids the application.
- The Points System categories are mutually exclusive by group, not additive. Families who think they have 25 points but actually have 20 will use their one unchangeable form to apply to a school they can't get into. See 'Official figures' below for the full grouping.
Official figures
| Points System score table | Group 1 (official: "choose only one of the above 5 items"): parent works full-time at same-site kindergarten or secondary section = 20 points; sibling studies at same-site secondary section = 20 points; parent is school manager = 20 points; parent or sibling is graduate = 10 points; first-born child = 5 points. Group 2 ("choose only one of the above 2 items"): same religious affiliation as sponsoring body = 5 points; parent is member of sponsoring organization = 5 points (for definitions of these two, EDB says ask school directly). Separate: appropriate age (aged 5 years 8 months to 7 years on 1 September next year) = 10 points. So full marks 35 points |
|---|---|
| Common Thresholds | Base 15 points (age 10 + first-born 5); 20 points may enter popular schools; 25 points (alumni 10 + religion 5 + age 10) reaches traditional elite threshold |
| Central Allocation Part A/B ratio | Central Allocation takes about 50% of Primary 1 places; of that 50%, Part A (not restricted by school net, can list up to 3 schools) takes about 10%, Part B (by home address Primary One school net) about 90% |
The above ratios and score tables follow the EDB leaflet; those not yet verified for the current year are marked 'to be verified'.
Source
verified against 2026-08-04- · EDB "Primary One Admission (POA) System" leaflet (for September 2026 admission)
- · hk01 Discretionary Places scoring and legacy
- · spacious scoring method
- · schooland Primary One Admission System
Annual dates (release, registration, etc.) are written as months. Exact dates per EDB announcement for that year.. Before making irreversible decisions, verify against official sources.