2023 ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) EXAMS

NOTES TO APPLICANTS

Please read these instructions carefully before completing your registration. The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) will not be responsible for incorrect entries which do not comply with these instructions and any unsuccessful registration due to technical and network failure.

Candidates must be born after 31 May 2002 and currently enrolled in or affiliated with a high school. This includes:

(a) candidates who enrolled at a high school but testing at another test center.

(b) high school-level candidates who are homeschooled, participate in independent study, or attend a virtual school.

(c) younger candidates who are not yet enrolled in high school (i.e. below ninth grade) but are prepared to take an AP Exam.

Prospective candidates who do not meet the above requirements and have a legitimate need for AP exams must request approval via email from College Board at aptestsecurity@collegeboard.org prior to registering with HKEAA.

Candidates should NOT register for the same AP exams at two different schools or test centres.

The term “applicant” on the registration refers to the person who accepts the responsibilities for:

(a) reading and undertaking to abide by the Examination Regulations, ensuring that those connected with the exam are aware of relevant matters;

(b) entering candidate, ensuring the accuracy of the information supplied, including name, subjects, and any specific needs;

(c) notifying the candidate of the examination time and venue;

(d) receiving all communications regarding the entries made (including e-admission form) and disseminating all such communications to the candidate as effectively as possible.

Applicants should submit their registration online via the HKEAA International and Professional Examinations Online Services (Online Services) during the specified registration period. Before registration, applicants are required to create their own accounts with a valid email address. When filling in candidate’s personal information, especially email address, it should exactly match with that in the candidate’s “My AP” Account. Uploading of ID documents/images to the registration system is not required. After successful application and payment, applicants can login their accounts at the Registration Home Page to view their examination entries. The HKEAA will transmit candidates’ registration to College Board after registration deadline. No join code will be sent to candidates.

Registration period:

No entry will normally be accepted after the registration period. Applicants are advised to submit their entries as early as possible in order to avoid seat filling up. If under exceptional circumstances a late entry is accepted, extra fee per subject and an additional administration fee on top will be charged.

Candidates with disabilities requiring special arrangements should submit their registration to the HKEAA on or before 15 November 2022 and contact the College Board SSD office by email at ssd@info.collegeboard.org or by telephone at (1) 212-713-8333 to get their approval for receiving appropriate accommodations on or before 18 January 2023. Candidates must notify HKEAA no later than 15 March 2023 once the approval is granted. Otherwise, the special arrangements on the exam day may be unable to provide.

3.    EXAMINATION FEES 

If the reason for a candidate taking AP late-testing is having timetable clash with: (a) another AP subject; or (b) an HKDSE Examination; or (c) an IB or Cambridge Examination, taking place at the SAME TIME & DATE, the examination fee under these “specific” special circumstances is HK$2,509 per subject (additional venue fee may apply), and the concerned applicants MUST submit copies of the respective examination registration acknowledgement and payment receipt as supporting documents.

Candidates who require a Letter of Certification of Participation before the issuance of e-admission form may apply at the time of registration. The HKEAA will issue and email the Letter to the candidate’s email address within 14 working days upon receipt of their application. The administration fee of this service is HK$462 per letter. If you need a hardcopy of the Letter, please complete the General Enquiry Form and additional courier fee will be required for this service request.

Fee payment MUST be completed with the corresponding registration form. If payment is not completed, the registration will NOT be proceeded. Fees paid by an applicant who subsequently withdraws his/her entry, or is absent from the examinations, or whose registration is later cancelled will NOT be refunded. Fees are NOT transferable to another AP test centre, from one examination to another/a later one or used for other purposes.

4.    PAYMENT METHOD

Exam fees should be paid in Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) through credit card (MasterCard or VISA) to settle the payment online.

5.    EXAM CHOICE GUIDELINES

Candidates are not required to take an AP course before taking an AP Exams. They may repeat an examination in the subsequent year. All available scores will be reported unless a special request has been made by the candidate to withhold or cancel any particular scores. Candidates may take as many AP Exams as they want, in any combination. Resources on preparing for AP Exams are available at the website of AP Courses and Exams.

Candidates CANNOT take the same subject in AP Exam and/or AP Late-testing in the same year and register the same AP subject at another test centres (Calculus AB and Calculus BC are treated as the same subject); otherwise, they must request the test centres to drop the examination before making registration and settling payment with the HKEAA. The HKEAA will not accept examination transfers from/to another test location nor take responsibilities for unsuccessful registration due to double registration. HKEAA will not refund for the duplicated subjects concerned.

6.    TIMETABLE AND SUBJECTS

2023 AP Exams will be administered in HKEAA or HKEAA designates exam venue as paper and pencil exams. As usual, AP Chinese and AP Japanese Exams are administered on computers provided by HKEAA. The AP exams schedule and available subjetcs for registration are printed on this document. Check to avoid timetable clash among subjects entered.  If candidates will take the examinations on the same day in HKEAA and/or hotel venues, the examination venues are located in different districts, candidates should plan their journey accordingly.

Applicants who have registered during 13 Oct to 4 Nov CANNOT register the same subjects, no matter it falls on AP Exams or AP Late-testing, and other subjects taking place at the SAME TIME of your registered subjects.  In case of timetable clash or double registration, no special timetabling arrangements can be made and candidates will be required to cancel the subjects affected which the fees paid for the subjects that are cancelled will not be refunded.

7.    CHANGE OF SUBJECTS

Changing of subjects refer to switching one AP subject to another or changing the examination date of a same subject from AP Exam to AP Late-testing or vice versa. Change of subjects on or before 15 November 2022 can be accepted subject to the payment of a supplementary fee of $365 plus the difference in exam fee (if applicable).  For subjects which will be held in hotel venues, additional venue fee of $455 will be levied. Candidates cannot request to change their registered subjects after 15 November 2022.

8.    E-ADMISSION FORM

E-admission form with the details of exam venue will be available for applicants to login and download via the HKEAA International and Professional Examinations Online Services (Online Services) around two weeks to one month prior to the examination date.  Successful applicants who have not received their e-admission forms less than two weeks before the exam date should contact the HKEAA for assistance. Candidates should print their e-admission forms on a clean A4 paper to attend the examination at the assigned time/date/venue as specified on their e-admission forms.

9.    MY AP ACCOUNT

Candidates are advised to create their “My AP” accounts before the examinations. If they have already signed up a College Board account for SAT® or other College Board programs or registered AP exams at other testing locations, they must enter the SAME candidates’ personal information — especially name, date of birth, sex, mailing address, school code and email address so as to review the registration and access AP scores in the same account. Candidates must also enter the SAME information mentioned above if they create their “My AP” accounts after registration with the HKEAA. Inconsistent/incomplete information can result in failure or delay in access to exam details and scores.

10.    SCORE REPORT

AP Score Reports are provided in July by the College Board to the candidates, the colleges and universities designated by the candidates only through “My AP”, and their high schools, if applicable. An AP score report is cumulative and includes grades for all the AP Exams the candidate has ever taken, unless the candidate has requested that one or more scores be withheld from a college or cancelled.

11.   PERSONAL DATA

Personal data of applicants/candidates are used by the HKEAA and the Examination Board for delivery of examination and assessment services. Whether you provide the requested personal data is voluntary. However, if you fail to provide all the data, or if any of the data are inaccurate or incomplete, the HKEAA may not be able to accept your entry or provide all or part of the examination and assessment services. The personal data submitted may also be used for:

(a) assisting tertiary institutions and other government/public organisations in their admissions processes;

(b) assisting tertiary institutions and other government/public organisations in respect of their requests for information in granting scholarships;

(c) assisting tertiary institutions and other government/public organisations to confirm the candidates’ eligibility for financial assistance or other forms of subsidization, in which case, the necessary personal data of the candidates may have to be disclosed to the concerned organisations for verification;

(d) certifying candidates’ examination results in response to legitimate requests;

(e) processing any refund or payment in relation to the examination;

(f) conducting educational research and analysis in an anonymous format in which the identities of candidates are not traceable; and

(g) marketing the services and products of the Examination Board (including examination services, courses, events, publications, and other examination materials or resources) subject to the consent of the applicants/candidates*.

The HKEAA may also transfer the personal data of applicants/candidates to third parties for the use of the above purposes or other directly related purposes, including government/public organisations, schools and educational institutions, banks (for processing refund or payment), and service providers providing various administrative or technical services to facilitate the delivery of the examination and assessment services including but not limited to data punching, registration process, dispatch of examination documents, and the capture, disposal or other processing of data.

In compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, access to all personal data will be made available, on payment of a fee, to anyone who can establish his/her right to be informed of such data as are retained by the HKEAA. Please also note that applicants’/candidates’ personal data/correspondence/other information received by the HKEAA may be transferred to the Examination Board concerned for delivery of examination and assessment services and for any of the abovementioned purposes or other directly related purposes. In general, upon completion of an examination or examination series and all the connecting examination services, the HKEAA will transfer all such data to the Examination Board who will then assume full control of such data. By then, candidates should approach the Examination Board directly for their personal data/information handling policies if necessary.

* If you have given consent but wish to withdraw your consent for your personal data to be used for this purpose, please send a letter of request to the Registration Office.

Applicants/Candidates should accept that the HKEAA shall not be responsible for any non-performance of duties where such non-performance has been caused by an act of God, labour strike, natural disaster, governmental action or intervention, riot, or any other cause not reasonably foreseeable and beyond the reasonable control of the HKEAA. The HKEAA, including their contractors and subcontractors, shall not be liable to anyone claiming for any damages which are caused by, arising from or otherwise related to the failure of staff members, examination personnel or the examination centres to comply with the examination regulations, policies or procedures.

12.   ENQUIRIES

For enquiries on AP Exams payment and registration via HKEAA, please submit the General Enquiry Form.

For enquiries on test scores or “My AP” Account, please contact the AP Services for Students at telephone number: (1) 212-632-1780 or by AP Email Contact Form

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

Candidates must take a careful look at the latest Hong Kong Government’s administrative orders on COVID-19. They may be assigned to the examination venue(s) bounded by the Vaccine Pass Requirements in accordance with the Prevention and Control of Disease (Vaccine Pass) Regulation (Cap. 599L), and they are required to present Vaccine Pass before entering the venue(s). All candidates should ensure that they comply with necessary statutory requirements for sitting the AP Exams in Hong Kong, such as applicable visa or stay conditions, quarantine and vaccination requirements, etc. before the examinations. The HKEAA will not be responsible and provide refund for any cases that the candidate is unable to take the examination due to the failure to comply the COVID-19 related regulations. Please visit the Hong Kong Government websites for more details:Come2hk Scheme & Vaccine Pass.