Part 3: Introduction
This year’s examination was attempted by a total of 746 candidates, a small decrease of 17 compared with the previous year. Of those candidates, 394 took the examination in the UK, while there were 352 candidates outside the UK, 280 at the Hong Kong centre. The UK pass-rate was 44.9%, a welcome increase of 5.3% compared to the previous year. The passrate outside the UK was 25.8%, which is rather disappointing, and the Hong Kong centre produced a pass-rate of 27.5%, the lowest for some years. The overall pass-rate was 35.9%, 0.4% higher than last year, and it is hoped that it will
climb to the 40%+ band by next year.