86% of Hong Kong children get preferred school places as applications plunge 16%

Around 86 per cent of children seeking places in Hong Kong’s public primary schools have secured one of their top three choices through the central allocation system, a record high and up from about 79 per cent last year, as applicant numbers fell 16 per cent to 16,345, the steepest decline on record.But a representative from a primary school council said the competition for discretionary places – commonly known as “door-knocking” – is unlikely to ease, as some parents whose children were allocated their second choice might still try to secure a place at their preferred school.Most applicants this year were born in 2020, amid the fallout of the anti-government protests of 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic. The birth rate that year fell by nearly 20 per cent to about 43,000.