Hong Kong students’ English proficiency continued to rank third in Asia, behind Malaysia and the Philippines, in 2018. Education consultancy firm IDP, which administers the IELTS test for non-native English speakers, compiled the rankings based on reports from 20 countries. Hong Kong ranked 13th on the global list in 2018.
Takers of the test from Hong Kong scored an average of 6.53, which remained unchanged from 2017, on the 9-band IELTS scale, where 1 indicates a “non-user” of the language and 9 means an “expert user.” The test comprises four sections – reading, listening, writing and speaking – each of which is graded separately.
Hong Kong remained the top scorer in the Greater China region, with test takers from mainland China scoring 5.78 and Taiwan 6.1.
According to the English Proficiency Index compiled by international education company Education First, Hong Kong’s overall English proficiency was ranked fifth in Asia, behind Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and India. Singapore is not included in the IELTS ranking as it does not have many test takers.
What do you think can be done to improve English proficiency in Hong Kong?
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