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HKSMSA Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival – Drama — Solo and Group Drama Classes for Schools, by Age and School Level

HKSMSA Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival - Drama: The 78th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival (English Speech), run by the Hong Kong Schools Music and...

e By Luke Justin October 27, 2026 4 min read

New here? Start with the basicsAge groups, competition categories and how to set up your event.

Speech & Drama · Asia

The 78th Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival (English Speech), run by the Hong Kong Schools Music and Speech Association, with real Solo Dramatic Performance and Dramatic Scenes classes across a 5-tier age ladder from 7-8 Years to 15 Years & Over.

Sets up a schools drama programme from Hong Kong – solo dramatic performance across five age tiers and ensemble dramatic scenes across four school levels – with printed time limits, so a coordinator starts from a real structure instead of a blank page.

This template models the drama section of a large annual English speech festival for schools in Hong Kong, built from the 2026 festival syllabus. It carries two items: Solo Dramatic Performance, where one pupil performs a dramatic piece alone, and Dramatic Scenes, an ensemble class in which a group of three to twelve performers presents a scene. The festival runs as a live competition across a single period in the autumn, and entrants are school pupils and students.

Solo Dramatic Performance is divided by exact age: 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15 and over, with age counted as at the end of the festival year. Dramatic Scenes is divided by school level instead – Primary, Secondary 1 and 2, Secondary 3 and 4, and Secondary 5 and 6 – and the template approximates those levels with the same age tiers, which is flagged in the evidence rather than hidden. Because the printed classes use school level, a coordinator running a different school system should check the age mapping before opening entries.

Time limits are printed and include set-up: three minutes for the youngest soloists rising to five minutes for age 15 and over, and ten minutes for the youngest ensemble classes rising to twenty minutes for Secondary 5 and 6. Results follow a three-tier certificate scheme – Honours from 90, Merit from 80 and Proficiency from 75 – alongside first, second and third placings. The source prints no per-criterion marks for the drama classes, so the template installs none, and the panel should agree its own criteria before the day.

Only two of the festival’s many class families are modelled here; verse speaking, choral speaking, public speaking and the other drama formats are not built. Entry fees are installed as zero so each organiser sets their own, and the template is best used as a starting structure for any schools drama day that mixes solo and ensemble classes.

Where this event comes from

The structure is taken from the festival’s 2026 syllabus; the festival is held every year and the syllabus is reissued annually.

Where this event is run

Speech and drama festivals that separate solo performance from ensemble scenes, with age tiers for soloists and school-level tiers for groups, are a long-established format in schools across Hong Kong and in other places that follow the English speech and drama festival tradition. The same shape suits a school or district drama day anywhere.

Hong Kong

Key facts

Two items: Solo Dramatic Performance (individual) and Dramatic Scenes (group of 3-12)
Solo is split into five exact-age tiers, 7-8 up to 15 and over; scenes use four school levels approximated as age tiers
Time limits include set-up: 3 to 5 minutes for solos, 10 to 20 minutes for scenes
Certificates: Honours 90+, Merit 80+, Proficiency 75+, with first to third placings and no points
No per-criterion marks are printed for drama; entry fees are 0 for the organiser to set
Only two of the festival’s class families are modelled

Age groups: 5
Competition items: 2
Competitions: 10
Grade bands: 0
Rank awards: 0

Age groups

Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.

7-8 Years

7From

–

8To

Candidates aged 7 to 8 compete in this group

9-10 Years

9From

–

10To

Candidates aged 9 to 10 compete in this group

11-12 Years

11From

–

12To

Candidates aged 11 to 12 compete in this group

13-14 Years

13From

–

14To

Candidates aged 13 to 14 compete in this group

15 Years & Over

15From

–

120To

Candidates aged 15 to 120 compete in this group

Competition items

The events themselves — each with the category it belongs to and how judges score it.

Solo Dramatic Performance

ActionMarks

Dramatic Scenes

ActionMarks

Competitions by group

The full schedule matrix, sectioned by age group then category — which item runs for whom, and for how long.

Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
7-8 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Solo Dramatic Performance	Individual	—	English	10	3 min
Dramatic Scenes	Team	—	English	10	10 min
9-10 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Solo Dramatic Performance	Individual	—	English	10	3 min
Dramatic Scenes	Team	—	English	10	10 min
11-12 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Solo Dramatic Performance	Individual	—	English	10	4 min
Dramatic Scenes	Team	—	English	10	10 min
13-14 Years
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Solo Dramatic Performance	Individual	—	English	10	4 min
Dramatic Scenes	Team	—	English	10	15 min
15 Years & Over
Action
Item	Type	Gender	Language	Max score	Time limit
Solo Dramatic Performance	Individual	—	English	10	5 min
Dramatic Scenes	Team	—	English	10	20 min

Frequently asked questions

Can I change this template after installing it?

Yes — installing it creates a fully configured, live event, not a locked package. Every age group, competition item, rule and scoring setting can be edited afterwards to match exactly what your event actually needs.