Administrative Officer and Executive Officer are often treated as higher and lower versions of the same job. They are separate grades: AOs lean towards policy formulation, cross-government coordination and decision support; EO IIs manage people, finance, procurement and departmental administration. The September 2026 round also covers four other JRE grades.
AO vs EO at a glance
| Dimension | AO | EO II |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Policy analysis and coordination | Administration and resource management |
| Working style | Frequent issue changes and contested trade-offs | Processes, delivery and departmental operations |
| Best fit | Macro judgement, persuasion and ambiguity | Organisation, management and execution |
| Shared gate | Degree, specified CRE results, BLNST and JRE; always follow the current advertisement | |
Official 2024–25 competition data
| 2024–25 | AO | EO II |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | about 13,300 | about 18,400 |
| Attended JRE | about 8,400 | about 11,000 |
| Passed JRE | about 3,200 (38.1% of attendees) | about 3,600 (32.7%) |
| Appointed | 37 | about 120 |
Keep the denominators separate: passes divided by attendees is a written-exam pass rate. Appointments divided by applications reflects interviews, vacancies and withdrawals as well, so it is not a JRE pass rate. See the full official competition dataset.
The six grades confirmed for September 2026
- AO: policy and cross-government coordination.
- EO II: departmental administration and resources.
- Assistant Information Officer (General Duties): government information, publicity and media coordination.
- MSO II: organisation, process and management studies.
- ATO II: trade policy and industry liaison.
- TO II: public transport, transport studies and incident response.
Read the dedicated guides to Assistant Information Officer and Transport Officer II. Assistant Labour Officer II appeared in earlier exercises but is not in the six-grade list confirmed for this round.
Best application strategy: apply broadly, prepare narrowly
Where eligible, several applications can widen the top of the funnel. Interview preparation should be narrower: choose two or three grades you genuinely understand and build evidence for why your experience fits each role. Start testing your judgement in the free JRE policy-analysis lab.
Official sources
Now put it into practice
The JREHK app carries writing drills for both the Chinese and English papers, worked model answers, and a policy-issue library with the analytical frameworks to go with it — so the method you just read becomes something you actually use.
