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International Students

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

We have over 4,000 non-local students from some 50 countries and regions. Our full-time undergraduates come from a wide range of places, including:


Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, Mainland China, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, State of Palestine, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, USA, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe, etc.

You are welcome to apply. International students who are given an admission offer are all admitted as Year 1 student, irrespective of the highest academic attainment one has achieved. However, applicants who have taken courses at undergraduate may apply for credit exemption upon registration as a CUHK student. Such applications will be considered on individual merits case-by-case.

Students from mainland China taking Gaokao in 2022 must apply through the National Colleges and Universities Enrolment System「全国普通高校统一招生计划」. For details, please refer to the Mainland Students page.

Non-local students can choose major programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Medicine (except for MBChB programme), Law, Science and Social Science.

Please refer to the Programme page for details.

The normative four-year curriculum is built on a credit unit system, with flexibility and choices both in the selection of courses and in the sequence and pace of electives. With the exception of a few special programmes, the normative period of study is four years, and students have to complete 123 units and satisfy requirements under separate categories.


Please check the Curriculum page for the overall curriculum structure. Applicants who meet specific requirements as stipulated by the University for particular qualifications (including IB, GCE-AL / International-AL, HKALE, associate degree and higher diploma may apply for “Admission with Advanced Standing”. For students admitted with Advanced Standing, the normative period of study may be reduced by up to one year.

Since its establishment, CUHK has adopted bilingualism and biculturalism as the basis of teaching for the benefit of local and international students and scholars. Courses are taught in Chinese or English and in some cases in both languages.

This learning environment is ideal for those who are interested in studying in a Chinese context but are unfamiliar with the language. Enough courses taught in English are offered to international students.

CUHK recognises the importance of good language skills for its students to excel locally and globally. Therefore, it allocates abundant resources in providing language training in Chinese and English for all students.

You are welcome to take Chinese or English language courses according to your own academic plans and needs. Fundamental Chinese Language and English Language are some core modules required by all faculties.

Classes will start in early September 2022.

Of all universities in Hong Kong, CUHK is the only one that offers a college experience. Each undergraduate is assigned to one of the constituent Colleges, Chung Chi, New Asia, United, Shaw, Morningside, S.H. Ho, CW Chu, Wu Yee Sun and Lee Woo Sing. The Colleges complement the formal curricula to deliver whole-person education and pastoral care. The college system encourages intimate interaction among teachers, students and alumni.

Please check the Colleges websites for more details.

Applicants who have been admitted to a full-time undergraduate programme will be asked to indicate their preferences for college affiliation from April.

In assigning new students to different Colleges, it is desirable that each College would have students from different faculties / departments to facilitate interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and ideas and to widen the students' intellectual perspective. The system for assigning new students to Colleges takes into consideration the preferences of students, their study programmes and admission scores. Priority is given to a new student to be assigned to his / her first-preference College if either of his / her parent is an alumnus of the College.

While students will be assigned college affiliation based on their preferences as far as possible, they may not be assigned to their most preferred College owing to limitation of places available.

Non-local students are given the option to live on or off campus.  They will be guaranteed three years of hostel place during their undergraduate studies at CUHK if they wish to stay on campus. However, non-local students are encouraged to take up off-campus accommodation for one academic year during their studies to enrich their exposures and  broaden their perspectives.


Morningside College, S.H. Ho College and CW Chu College adopt a fully residential and communal dining system. Students admitted to one of these three colleges are required to live in hostel during their undergraduate studies. The other six colleges - Chung Chi College, New Asia College, United College, Shaw College, Wu Yee Sun College and Lee Woo Sing College - guarantee three years of hostel place. For the non-guaranteed period, non-local students have to submit hostel applications to their respective colleges and their applications would be reviewed according to the individual hostel selection criteria.


As each college has their own accommodation policy on the guaranteed period and scoring system, please visit Learning and Cultural Enhancement Section website for further Housing Information.

Tuition fee is HK$145,000 for the academic year 2022-23 (subject to confirmation). The tuition fees for dual undergraduate degree programmes may vary.

Hostel fee is HK$14,000 approximately per academic year.

Living and other expenses would be around HK$35,000 per academic year.

Applicants admitted to a full-time undergraduate programme will automatically be considered for admission scholarships. There is no need for you to submit a separate application for the scholarship. For further information, please visit the Scholarships and Financial Aid page.

Financial Aid is not available to international students. However, we do offer entrance scholarships for outstanding international students.


Admission Requirements    

Please visit the Requirements page for more details.

All applicants should have attained an acceptable level of proficiency in English.

Applicants who have taken IELTS indicator or Duolingo results may submit the results for the programme's reference. However, they are required to take other acceptable English tests to fulfill the University's English language requirement for admission.

Please visit the Requirements page for more details.

No. Non-local students applying to CUHK are not required to know Chinese, except for a small number of courses, for example, Chinese Medicine, Chinese Language and Literature, which require knowledge of Chinese.

Please visit the Programme page for details.

Applicants will be considered on the basis of their past academic performance and other relevant qualifications and on individual merits. If they are invited to attend an interview (preferred by some programmes, not all), their performance at the interview will also be taken into account.

Applicants who have successfully completed courses at undergraduate level and have been admitted to CUHK may apply for course and unit exemptions after they have registered as students. Applications for course and unit exemptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and they may or may not be approved.


Application Procedures    

Advance Offer Round Deadline: 17 November 2021
Regular Round Deadline: 6 January 2022

Thereafter, applications may be accepted subject to availability of places.

Yes, you can still apply. You should indicate the examination(s) or test(s) to be attempted in your application and submit the application first before the deadline. Once the result(s) become available, please log into the online application system to update the results obtained and upload a copy of the result in the supporting document section within 3 days of the result release. 

The online application fee is HK450 for 2022 entry. The application fee, once paid, is not refundable irrespective of whether the application is successful or otherwise.

Applicants need to pay the application fee via online payment by either VISA or MASTERCARD through our Online Application System at the time of application submission. Failure to pay the application fee will result in delay in processing of the application.

Applicants are required to submit at least one recommendation via online system or by post. You should invite an appropriate person who is familiar with your academic background to be your referee.

You have to submit one personal statement with no more than 2 A4 pages telling us why you choose the programme(s) in your application.

Applicants should upload the supporting documents using the online application system functions. 
After submitting the application, applicants can submit additional supporting documents (e.g. forthcoming examination result slips or any other necessary documents) using the upload function OR by post to our office.

Copies of your Passport / entry permit, personal statement, academic transcripts, public examination results, one recommendation letter and other relevant information you consider appropriate. Please visit the Apply page for further information.

If you are shortlisted, you will be notified of the arrangement for interview by phone, email or mail. Please note that not all programmes would conduct interview.

Successful applicants will receive a notification from the University from November 2021 to August 2022.

SAT / AP: 5690
ACT: 7050
TOEFL: 0812
IELTS: CUHK Undergraduate Admissions official IELTS receiving address:
OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID
THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
Room 1202, Yasumoto International Academic Park
Shatin, N.T. Hong Kong


Enquiries

International Admissions, Office of Admissions and Financial Aid

Telephone: (852) 3943 7459 / 3943 7469 / 3943 9286

Online Enquiry: www.cuhk.edu.hk/adm/intl/enquiry