Non Local Applicants

University Admission Requirements/Policies

For admission to the University’s undergraduate degree programmes, applicants are required to:

Meet the General University Admission Requirements AND specific Programme Admission Requirements (if any); or
Hold other qualifications deemed acceptable by the University as equivalent to the requirements 1 above.

General University Admission Requirements

Students from Hong Kong with the Highest Qualifications/Status in:

Students from outside Hong Kong (with Overseas Qualifications)

Programme Admission Requirements

Alternative English Language Qualifications and Substitution for AS Chinese Language and Culture

General University Admission Requirements

1. Students from Hong Kong with the Highest Qualifications/Status in:

HKALE AND HKCEE examinations (JUPAS applicants)

Applicants must fulfill the following requirements for HKALE AND HKCEE:

Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE):

Grade E or above obtained in any two sittings.

AS Use of English¹; and
AS Chinese Language and Culture¹; and
Either two AL subjects or one AL subject plus two AS subjects

Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE):

Level 2/Grade E or above in at least six subjects² including Chinese Language or an alternative language (other than Chinese and English) and English Language³ with at least five subjects in a single sitting.

^{Remarks:

1. Applicants without AS Use of English or AS Chinese Language and Culture, please refer to the Alternative English Language Qualifications and Substitution for AS Chinese Language and Culture respectively.

2. Five subjects are acceptable if the total of these 5 grades is not less than 8 points ("Level 5* to 2" or "Grade A to E" are awarded points 5 to 1 respectively).

3. For English Language attempted before 2007, Grade C in English Language (Syllabus A) is considered equivalent to Grade E in English Language (Syllabus B).}

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma

IB diploma holders or students who will take the IB examinations in May 2012 are eligible to apply. Applicants sitting the 2012 IB examinations should ask the IB organization to send copies of their transcripts to the University. For IB Diploma applicants, a score of 4 or above out of 7 in IB English A1 or A2 (Higher or Standard Level) is regarded as equivalent to Grade D in AS Use of English.

Associate Degree Student/Holder

Holders of or final year students studying for an Associate Degree at a higher education institution recognised by the University may apply for Year 1 or Year 2 entry, depending on the depth and relevancy of the subjects and the programme in which they are enrolled. Non-final year students studying an Associate Degree programme who wish to apply for admission must satisfy the General and Programme Admission Requirements for HKALE and HKCEE as listed in the General University Admission Requirements and Programme Admission Requirements respectively or the recognised overseas qualifications as listed in Part 2 (Students from outside Hong Kong), and are eligible to apply for Year 1 only.

Higher Diploma/Professional Diploma/Diploma Student/Holder

Holders of or final year students studying for a Higher Diploma/Professional Diploma/Diploma at a higher education institution recognised by the University may apply to study for Year 1 or 2 entry, depending on the depth and relevancy of the subjects and the programme in which they are enrolled. Non-final year students studying in a Higher Diploma/Professional Diploma/Diploma programme who want to apply for admission must satisfy the General and Programme Admission Requirements for HKALE and HKCEE as listed in the General University Admission Requirements and Programme Admission Requirements respectively or the recognised overseas qualifications as listed in Part 2 (Students from outside Hong Kong), and are eligible to apply for Year 1 only.

GCE Qualifications

Eligible applicants should obtain passes in:

At least six subjects (including English and Chinese/an alternative language other than Chinese or English) in the General Certificate of Education at Ordinary Level/General Certificate of Secondary Education/International General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCEOL/GCSE/IGCSE) Examination in two consecutive years; and
At least two Advanced Level (AL) subjects or one AL plus two Advanced Supplementary (AS) subjects.

Transfer Students

Transfer students are current students of local government-funded institutions who are enrolled in a full time or sandwich degree programme or overseas students who have completed at least one year of study of a three-year (Honours) degree programme or two years of study of a four-year (Honours) degree programme at a tertiary education institution recognised by the University.

Applicants studying the first year of a 4-year (Honours) undergraduate degree programme may apply for admission. The year of study that applicants will be admitted to is considered on a case-by-case basis. Normally, only applicants with thirteen years of pre-university (Primary and Secondary) education and 1 year of undergraduate study can be considered for admission to Year 2.

Upon successful admission, applicants admitted to Year 1 can apply for the transfer of units for equivalent subjects at the University. Whereas applicants admitted to Year 2 will receive their own study plans in August. The number of credit units that can be transferred from an applicant's previous university depends on the depth and relevancy of the subjects and the programme in which the student is enrolled. Under normal circumstances, transfer students may be granted transfer units that amount to no more than one-third of the total units required for graduation.

^{Remarks:

In accordance with University Grants Committee (UGC)'s guidelines on the inter-institutional transfer of students, repeated study of a student as a result of the transfer should not bring additional cost to the UGC, and should not take up funded quota that should have otherwise been made available to students entering institutions or under normal progression. The institution should accept such transferees by way of over-enrolment. In this regard, the inter-institutional transfer of students is considered on a case-by-case basis.

Current HKBU students who wish to transfer to another programme/major/concentration/option in 2012-2013 should NOT apply via Direct (Non-JUPAS) application. They may contact the}^{Undergraduate Studies Section}^{of the Academic Registry for details.}

Mature Applicants

Applicants who do not possess the formal academic qualifications as mentioned above but are aged 25 or above on September 1 in the admission year may be granted exemption from the University Admission Requirements provided that they:

Have pursued an appropriate programme of study;
Are able to show by acceptable evidence that they have achieved sufficient competence in their chosen field of study to justify admission;
Can demonstrate their aptitude and suitability for a particular programme of study by their experience and maturity.

Students Applying on the Strength of Other Qualifications

Applicants who possess qualifications other than those mentioned above, for example students/graduates of Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Chu Hai College of Higher Education, Open University, Hang Seng Management College or other post-secondary programmes including those self-financed undergraduate programmes organized by local governement-funded institutions, may apply under the category "Others". Applicants who have completed Grade 13 or Grade 12 in local international schools with good results will be considered for admission on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the acceptable qualifications specified for the education systems in which the high school belongs. Applicants may be required to take additional courses upon successful admission.

2. Students from outside Hong Kong (with Overseas Qualifications)

The University welcomes overseas applications. Non-local applicants holding an IB Diploma, Associate Degree, Higher Diploma/Professional Diploma/Diploma or GCE qualifications or who wish to apply as Mature Applicants may refer to the relevant requirements as listed in Part 1 (Students from Hong Kong).

Applicants who apply for admission on the basis of overseas qualifications should refer to the following table listing the overseas qualifications recognised by the University. Given the diversity of education systems around the world, the acceptable overseas qualifications listed below may not cover every region. The University normally expects applicants to have obtained an academic standard equivalent to GCE AL or obtained the International Baccalaureate Diploma or the first year of a 3-Year undergraduate education. School leaving qualifications that are acceptable for admission to universities in other places may not necessarily be acceptable or sufficient for admission to the undergraduate programmes offered by the University.

In addition to the General Admission Requirements, individual programmes may require specific course background. Applicants not taking local examinations are expected to fulfill the Programme Admission Requirements with equivalent courses obtained in GCE/GCSE/IGCSE and the like.

Admission is on a competitive basis. Applicants who satisfy the minimum entrance requirements are eligible to apply for admission, however, this does not guarantee admission to the University.

Applicants applying via the Direct (Non-JUPAS) Admission Scheme for 2012 entry will be considered for admission to the 3-year curriculum programmes only (unless specified). Admitted students without 13 years of pre-university (Primary and Secondary) education/sub-degree/undergraduate degree or above qualification may be required to take additional course(s). Admission of such qualifications is considered on case-by-case basis.

Entrance requirements are subject to ongoing review. The University reserves the right to amend the requirements from time to time.

Last update:Jul 27, 2011

Australia	Brunei	Canada	China	France
Germany	India	Indonesia	Ireland	Japan
Macau	Malaysia	Myanmar	New Zealand	Norway
Pakistan	Philippines	Saudi Arabia	Singapore	South Africa
South Korea	Taiwan	Thailand	UK	USA

Alternative English Language Qualifications

The following public examination results are recognised by the University as equivalent to Grade E in AS Use of English:
1. A score of 550 (paper-based) or 213 (computer-based) or 80 (Internet-based) or above in TOEFL; or
2. A score of 6 or above in International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Academic Level; or
3. Grade E or above in GCE AS Level or AL Level English; or
4. Grade C or above in GCE O Level/GCSE/IGCSE English; or
5. Grade 3 in Joint Matriculation Board (JMB) University Test in English (or a pass in the NEAB University Entrance Test in English for Speakers of Other Languages); or
6. For applicants applying on the basis of qualifications other than HKALE, an English language qualification equivalent to AS Use of English, as deemed acceptable by the University.

The following public examination results are recognised by the University as equivalent to Grade D in AS Use of English:
1. A score of 550 (paper-based) or 213 (computer-based) or 80 (Internet-based) or above in TOEFL; or
2. A score of 7 or above in International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Academic Level; or
3. Grade D or above in GCE AS Level or AL Level English; or
4. Grade C or above in GCE O Level/GCSE/IGCSE English; or
5. For applicants applying on the basis of qualifications other than HKALE, an English language qualification equivalent to AS Use of Enlgish, as deemed acceptable by the University.
Applicants without Grade D or above in AS Use of English or equivalent qualifications are required to take the English Bridging Course before commencing their studies.

Substitution for AS Chinese Language and Culture

Those without a Chinese Language qualification at HKCEE level (substituted by an alternative language other than Chinese and English) must have an additional AL/AS subject to substitute for AS Chinese Language & Culture.

On an exceptional basis, students who have pursued a school curriculum (locally or overseas) that does not include formal Chinese language studies, yet who are conversant in spoken Chinese, may be admitted to certain programmes of study in which written Chinese is not an essential element. For such students, the language requirement for Chinese is substituted by an alternative language (other than Chinese or English).