Hong Kong Admissions Statistics 2025

Law Statistics

Hong Kong’s law programmes are among the most prestigious and internationally recognised in Asia, due to the city’s common law legal system, strong links to international finance and high graduate employability.

The charts below compare the admissions rates for law-related programmes across leading Hong Kong universities for the 2025 admissions cycle.

Analysis & Insights

  • Standalone Law programmes are generally the most competitive (CUHK 12.8%, HKU 25.0%, CityU 25.3%).
  • Interdisciplinary pathways such as HKU Law & Business (47.4%), CityU Law & Accountancy (25.7%) and HKU Law & Science (38.3%) are generally less competitive, offering more accessible routes into legal studies while still providing strong commercial career opportunities.
  • Programme competitiveness is influenced not just by university reputation, but also by intake size, programme structure and career positioning. Applicants should compare individual courses carefully.

Medicine Statistics

Hong Kong’s medicine and healthcare landscape is unique because the city has historically only had two medical schools offering full Western medicine (MBBS) training: HKU and CUHK. This is expected to change following the Hong Kong government’s approval of a third medical school at HKUST, which will begin training students in the 2028/2029 academic year.

There is only one Veterinary school and one Dentistry school in Hong Kong, which are at CityU and HKU respectively.

The charts below compare the admissions rates for medicine and health-related programmes across leading Hong Kong universities for the 2025 admissions cycle.

Analysis & Insights

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine is surprisingly competitive, with HKBU 5.3%, CUHK 13.6% and HKU 17.2%.
  • This is much lower than the Western Medicine MBBS programmes, with HKU 29.0% and CUHK 34.5%. This trend could be due to the significantly smaller intake sizes of TCM programmes, combined with strong trust in Chinese Medicine within Hong Kong’s local population.
  • Medicine‑adjacent courses such as Biomedical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering are often more competitive than the traditional MBBS course, and should not be treated automatically as backup options for Medicine applications.
  • Allied health programmes such as Medical Laboratory Science, Pharmacy and Radiography are also selective due to strong employability and direct healthcare career pathways.

Economics & Finance Statistics

Hong Kong has long been one of Asia’s leading financial centers, making Economics, Finance, Business and Accounting courses among the most popular and employable degrees in the region.

Hong Kong universities offer a wide range of specialised business-related programmes, creating substantial variation in admissions competitiveness even within the same university. The charts below compare the admissions rate across leading Hong Kong universities for the 2025 admissions cycle.

Analysis & Insights

  • Accounting programmes are on average the most competitive because of their strong employability and professional accreditation pathways.
  • The most competitive courses are not always concentrated at the “big name” universities such as HKU, CUHK or HKUST. For example, HKBU BBA Accounting (5.2%), Lingnan BBA Finance (8.9%) and Lingnan Economics (9.8%) all have exceptionally low acceptance rates.
  • Admissions rates can vary significantly between seemingly similar programmes, and the most prestigious universities may not be the ones with the most competitive courses. For example, the Economics & Finance course at CityU (6.7%) is far more competitive than at HKU (12.7%), CUHK (21.9%) or HKUST (43.8%).
  • Similar variation can also be seen in Accounting programmes. HKBU (5.2%) is particularly competitive, followed by PolyU (9.0%), CityU (10.5%) and Lingnan (10.9%). In contrast, acceptance rates are significantly higher at HKUST (23.0%), HKMU (24.6%), CUHK (28.9%) and HKU (33.2%).
  • These patterns highlight an important point about Hong Kong admissions strategy: overall university reputation does not always correspond to programme competitiveness. Applicant demand is affected by factors such as programme structure, intake size and career outcomes. Applicants should compare individual courses carefully.

Computing, Engineering & Technology Statistics

Hong Kong’s growing position as a technology, finance and innovation hub has driven an acceleration in the demand for Computing, Engineering & Technology degrees.

This category has the most extensive range of programme structures and specialisations. It includes both courses with the lowest admissions rates in Hong Kong, and also the largest variation in competitiveness (as low as 2.0% to as high as 46.0%).

The charts below compare the admissions rates across leading Hong Kong universities for the 2025 admissions cycle.

Analysis & Insights

  • CityU stands out as one of the most competitive universities in this category. Not only does it offer the widest range of computing and technology-related programmes, it also has many programmes with admissions rates below 5%.
  • Computer Science-related courses vary significantly in competitiveness across universities. CityU Computer Science (6.3%) is far more selective than HKU (15.0%), HKUST (21.4%), HKMU (21.2%) and CUHK (34.1%).
  • AI-related programmes show even greater variation. Some programmes are extremely selective, including CityU AI in Business (4.5%), EdUHK AI & EdTech (5.7%), PolyU Physics AI & Data Analytics (8.0%), PolyU Computing & AI (8.3%), CityU AI Computing & Transformation (9.8%), Saint Francis AI (11.2%), PolyU Data Science & AI (11.6%), HKMU Data Science & AI (12.7%), HKU AI & Data Science (13.6%).
  • In contrast, programmes such as HKU AI in Engineering (19.1%), HKUST Science & AI (21.5%), CUHK AI: Systems & Technologies (34.6%) and HKU Applied AI (46.0%) are significantly less competitive.
  • These trends show that “AI” or “Computer Science” in a programme title does not necessarily indicate the same level of competition. Applicants should compare individual programmes carefully rather than relying only on broad subject labels.

Science Statistics

Science-related degrees are some of the most competitive courses in Hong Kong and remain a core strength of Hong Kong universities. Programmes are extremely varied, with broad “Science” courses, more specialised programmes and interdisciplinary research-focused degrees, which all vary significantly in competitiveness and flexibility.

The charts below compare admission rates across general Science, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and related interdisciplinary programmes in the 2025 admissions cycle.

Analysis & Insights

  • Some of the most competitive science options are not at “big name” universities such as HKU, CUHK or HKUST. For instance, PolyU Science (1.4%), CityU INSPIRE Energy & Environmental Engineering (2.0%), CityU GREAT (2.0%), CityU Environmental Science & Engineering & Finance (3.1%), and HKBU Science (6.0%) all have extremely low acceptance rates.
  • Broad “Science” programmes vary significantly by university. PolyU Science (1.4%) and HKBU Science (6.0%) are far more competitive than HKUST Science (Physics) (17.2%), HKUST Science (Bio) (19.8%), HKU Science (19.0%) and CUHK Science (24.2%).
  • Biomedical-related programmes also vary significantly in competitiveness. Highly selective programmes include CityU Biomedical Sciences (8.6%), CityU Biomedical Engineering (9.1%) and PolyU Biomedical Engineering (9.7%). These are more competitive than programmes such as CUHK Biomedical Sciences (14.7%), HKUST Biomedical & Health Sciences (17.6%), CUHK Biomedical Engineering (17.9%), CityU Biomedical Sciences (Clinical) (21.2%), HKU Biomedical Sciences (25.8%), HKU Biomedical Engineering (28.4%) and HKMU Biomedical Sciences & Biotechnology (29.5%).
  • From an admissions strategy perspective, the data shows that broad “Science” programmes are not easier to enter than specialised programmes and should not be treated as a backup option. Course competitiveness is driven more by intake size, research positioning and career demand. Applicants should compare individual courses carefully.