Previous research by the British Council suggests that many students in Hong Kong regard studying locally as their first choice. Being aware of local university admissions scores is therefore important for UK universities wishing to recruit Hong Kong students who have performed well in the HKDSE.
 

The official entry requirement for HKDSE graduates to enter local publicly funded universities is 3322 in core subjects, however entry is very competitive, and admission scores are therefore significantly higher than this.

Considering that many Hong Kong students view studying locally as their first choice and the UK as the best alternative, UK universities who want to recruit ‘good’ Hong Kong students should be aware of local admissions scores, in order to be competitive.

An analysis of admissions scores for 2015 from JUPAS data (the local university application system), reveals some interesting insights, including:

Mean scores for subject areas averaged across the local universities reveals that admissions scores for aspirational subject areas such as Medicine, Law and Architecture are higher, as would be expected. Medicine has the highest admission scores, with a mean of 5.99 (i.e. 5*) across HKDSE subjects sat. The lowest was Psychology, with a mean of 4.24.

Mean admission scores vary by university. For example for Business Studies admission scores range from 5.7 (i.e. 5*) at the University of Hong Kong to 4.17 at Lingnan University and 3.43 at Open University of Hong Kong. Likewise for Social Science scores range from 5.4 at Chinese University to 3.47 at City University.

Closer examination of the data reveals some interesting statistics, for example a student wishing to study Science at Chinese University needs to achieve a 5** in their best elective subject. Likewise a student wishing to study Law at the same university need to achieve a 5** in English.

Universities who wish to know more about local admissions scores can contact the British Council Hong Kong team.