General Qualifications for Admission
The basic qualification necessary for admission to research postgraduate studies is a good honours degree from this University or an equivalent qualification from a comparable institution. In addition, certain degree courses have more specific requirements. Qualifying examinations to test the applicants' abilities to follow the prescribed courses and/or interviews may be conducted. Applicants with qualifications other than an honours degree are considered on their individual merits.
Applicants who wish to be admitted to higher degrees on the basis of a qualification from a university or a comparable institution outside Hong Kong where the language of teaching and/or examination is not English are required to obtain:
a minimum scores in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as specified below:
Paper-based test
An overall score of 550 or above
Additional requirement for applicants to the Faculty of Arts except the Department of Chinese: 4 or above in the Test of Written English (TWE)
Computer-based test
An overall score of 213 or above
Additional requirement for applicants to the Faculty of Arts except the Department of Chinese: 4 or above in the Essay section
Internet-based test
An overall score of 80 or above
Additional requirement for applicants to the Faculty of Arts except the Department of Chinese: 25 or above in the Writing section
Applicants who took the TOEFL should request the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send an official score report to the University direct. For this purpose, the TOEFL code of the University is 9671 and please use 99 as department code for sending official score report to the HKU Graduate School. [It is a policy of the TOEFL Policy Council to validate scores which are obtained within a two-year period. The University therefore accepts this two-year validity rule in the admission exercise]; or
a minimum overall band of 6 with no subtest lower than 5.5 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (applicants of admission to read for an MPhil or a PhD degree in the Faculty of Arts are required to obtain an overall band of 7 with no subtest lower than 5.5 in the IELTS); or
grade C or above in the Overseas General Certificate of Education (GCE); or
grade C or above in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE); or
grade C or above in the Cambridge Test of Proficiency in English Language (CPE);
unless in exceptional circumstances they are exempted from this requirement.
Since places for postgraduate studies are limited, it may not be possible to offer admission to all qualified applicants.