School-data interpretation
How to read Hong Kong primary-school teacher data
Teacher percentages describe staffing structure; they do not prove classroom quality. Check the year, field and denominator, then turn each number into a question for the school.
Answer first
The official Primary School Profiles can describe a school's staffing and qualification structure. They cannot answer which school teaches better on their own. Total teachers is not the number assigned to P1. Degree and postgraduate percentages are not classroom-effectiveness measures. Experience bands do not show how long a teacher has worked at that school, level or subject.
Start with the source year and field, then turn a difference into a practical question: how are class and subject teachers deployed in P1, who follows up a learning need, and how does professional development affect ordinary lessons?
What the 2025 profiles actually publish
The official CSV labels these staffing fields as previous-school-year data: approved teaching establishment, total teachers, percentage with teacher training, bachelor's degree, master's or doctorate or above, special-education training, and experience bands of 0-4, 5-9 and 10 or more years. Read the fields separately. None is an official “teacher quality score”.
| Field | What it describes | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| Total teachers | Size of the whole-school teaching team in the previous year | P1 class size, teachers per class or the teacher assigned to a child |
| Teacher-training percentage | Share reported as having received teacher training | Content of each qualification, subject match or classroom effectiveness |
| Degree/postgraduate percentage | Academic-qualification structure | Relevance to the subject taught, teaching approach or pupil outcomes |
| Special-education training percentage | Share with relevant training | Staffing intensity, frequency of support or a plan for an individual child |
| Experience distribution | Teaching team grouped by years of experience | Years at the present school, turnover, year-level deployment or subject expertise |
Read the year before the percentage
The Committee on Home-School Co-operation says the 2025 profiles were provided and verified by schools according to their situation in April 2025. Schools may update the online profiles from time to time. The CSV staffing labels also say “previous school year”. A 2025 figure is therefore a dated reference, not a promise about staffing in a 2027/28 P1 classroom.
Compare schools using the same profile edition and the same field. P1Tracker shows this dataset only where the school identity matches the official 2025 profile exactly. If an official supplement has no equivalent field, it remains unavailable; a similar name is not substituted and a missing value is not treated as zero.
Degree, teacher training and registration are different
A bachelor's or postgraduate degree describes academic qualification. “Received teacher training” is a separate profile field. Education Bureau registration rules make another distinction between registered teachers and permitted teachers: a registered teacher holds a recognised teaching qualification, while a permitted teacher teaches under a permit tied to the employing school and academic qualifications.
The degree percentage is therefore neither the teacher-training percentage nor the registered-teacher percentage. Families interested in professional background should read each concept on its own terms.
Turn the figures into four verifiable questions
- Who does a P1 pupil meet during an ordinary day? Ask about class teachers, subject teachers, co-teaching and follow-up roles without requesting personal staff information.
- How is relevant training used? Ask for the real process in reading, language, assessment, emotional or learning support rather than another headline percentage.
- How are new pupils and staff supported? Ask about planning, lesson observation, mentoring and home-school communication instead of inferring turnover from experience bands.
- Has the information changed? Check the current official profile, school site and visit information. If they differ, record the applicable year and publisher before comparing.
Use one number and two follow-up checks
For every numerical difference, record its official field and year, then check one daily practice and one evidence gap. “Higher postgraduate percentage” is only an observation. Next ask whether the figures are from the same edition, whether they cover the whole school and how professional development reaches P1 teaching or support.
Compare no more than four schools at once, and read staffing alongside admission route, fees, travel, teaching language, homework and support. A single percentage should not eliminate an otherwise feasible school.
Unavailable data is not a negative judgement
A field may be unavailable because identity did not match exactly, the evidence uses a different edition or the official value is missing. That is an evidence boundary, not a statement about teachers. If the field matters to the family, return to the current official profile and school site. Keep it as a question when no verified answer is available.
Official basis
Read the source year before the percentage
The Primary School Profiles explain the data year and school-update process. The Education Bureau teacher-registration page explains registered and permitted teachers. One source cannot substitute for the other.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does a higher postgraduate percentage prove better teaching?
No. It describes academic qualifications but not relevance to the subject taught, classroom practice, staff deployment or an individual pupil's learning outcome.
Is total teachers the number of P1 teachers or teachers per class?
No. The official field is the whole-school teacher total for the previous year. It cannot be converted directly into P1 class size, teachers per class or a child's actual teaching team.
Can the 2025 profile be treated as a 2027/28 staffing promise?
No. CHSC says the information was provided and verified by schools according to their situation in April 2025, and the staffing fields refer to the previous school year. Recheck the current online profile and school information.
Is the degree percentage the teacher-training or registered-teacher percentage?
No. Academic degree, teacher training and Education Bureau registration are different concepts and must be read from their own fields and official definitions.