Last week (13 August) HKDSE students obtained the outcome of their applications to local universities through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS, equivalent to UCAS in the UK). The JUPAS statistics showed that 37.5% of the 41,000 applicants have been offered a place at one of eight publicly funded universities, which was the highest percentage since 2012, when the new university entrance exams were introduced, according to local media reports. Of the 15,642 offer holders, approximate 88% of them secured one of their top 3 choices (346 more than last year). In addition, as stated in this year’s HKDSE report published by Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), there were 18,572 students who met the minimum entry requirements of local universities, suggesting 2,930 students missed out and will now likely either look to study abroad or enter expensive self-funded programmes.

Despite the university acceptance rate being at a record high, it has also been reported that local publicly funded universities are facing tougher competition this year, due to shrinking local secondary student populations and concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic from overseas students. Meanwhile, the current socio-political uncertainty in Hong Kong is also likely to affect both home and international students’ decision on their choice of final study destination as can be seen by reports such as that from the South China Morning Post stating that ‘…more local students applying for places in higher-education institutions in mainland China and overseas.’.

Comments by Karen Hsu, Education Services Manager for Hong Kong
According to this year’s HKDSE results, there was a 3.7% of decrease in the total number of candidates and students eligible for local publicly funded universities. Local institutions are facing an unprecedent challenge owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and on-going social unrest. As a result, local universities will release more places for applicants with a non-local qualification (e.g. IB, A-level). However, it is believed that the impact on HK students’ decisions of studying in the UK would not be significant, as local parents have doubts about the city’s future. Many parents and students are considering the possibility of taking advantage of their status as British nationals overseas (BNO) to study in the UK and eventually emigrate to the country. In the British Council’s pre-departure briefing on 13-14 August, we received a high level of interest and questions relating to BNO visas. 

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