Hong Kong is traditionally an examination-oriented culture, a legacy of its Confucian heritage. Since the 1990s, the Hong Kong government has shown its determination to make a change to this deep-rooted examination-oriented culture with assessment for learning highlighted as an important aspect in the reform agenda. Although many initiatives have been put in place, the government has not seen many changes in the assessment practices in schools. This paper discusses the difficulties faced when seeking to establish formative assessment in an examination culture. (Contains 1 table.)