EAST ASIA · HONG KONG
Students in Hong Kong finish school with different qualifications: the HKDSE, the IB Diploma, A Levels (often after IGCSEs), or an American diploma with AP courses. Yours shapes how you apply in Hong Kong and what each university abroad will ask of you.
For 2027 entry
START WITH YOUR QUALIFICATION
If you’re taking the HKDSE, you usually apply to Hong Kong’s universities through JUPAS. With the IB, A Levels, or an American diploma, you apply to each one directly. Universities abroad look at your results, your school’s grading, and the subjects you took, each in its own way.
HONG KONG CURRICULUM
You take the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education at the end of Secondary 6: four core subjects plus your electives.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
You take six subjects, three or four at Higher Level, plus the core. Your teachers predict your grades before the final exams in May.
BRITISH CURRICULUM
You usually take three or four A Levels in your last two years, with an exam board such as Cambridge International or Pearson Edexcel.
AMERICAN CURRICULUM
Your school’s diploma and GPA, usually with Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams.
Letrado’s adviceAsk your counselor for your school profile early. It explains your curriculum and grading, and U.S. colleges read it alongside your transcript. If you’re also applying to Hong Kong universities directly, ask how your school sends predicted grades.
Core subjects: Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics, and Citizenship and Social Development. The last one is graded only “Attained” or “Not Attained.”
Grades: Your other subjects are graded from Level 1 to Level 5, and the best Level 5 results are marked 5* and 5**.
Hong Kong minimums: Each university sets its own. PolyU, for example, asks for Level 3 in Chinese and English, Level 2 in Mathematics, “Attained” in Citizenship and Social Development, and Level 3 in two electives.
Cambridge: It normally expects 5 in all core subjects and 5* in two or more relevant ones, with elective grades that depend on the course.
Direct applications: Hong Kong’s universities admit the IB, A Levels, and other qualifications through their own non-JUPAS schemes, each with its own deadlines.
HKU’s dates, for example: For 2027 entry, its first-round deadline is noon on 25 November 2026. After that, applications are reviewed as they arrive, until the scheme’s closing date, 25 August 2027.
Predicted grades: Universities assess you on predicted or actual results, so make sure yours are ready before the deadline you’re aiming for.
COMPARE THE SYSTEMS
You can apply to all three in the same year, and we help with all three, including JUPAS. Each has its own application, deadlines, and idea of a strong applicant, so give each one its own plan.
UNITED STATES
Selective colleges look at your grades in the context of your school, alongside your essays, activities, teacher and counselor letters, and test scores where they ask for them. You apply to each college separately, often through the Common App.
Letrado’s adviceMake sure your school profile and counselor letter explain your curriculum. Then use your essays for what only you can say.
UNITED KINGDOM
You apply through UCAS to up to five courses, with one personal statement for all of them. Universities look closely at your subjects and predicted grades, and some courses add an admissions test or interview.
Letrado’s adviceChoose a subject you’d enjoy studying for three years, then check each course’s subject requirements before anything else.
HONG KONG
With the HKDSE, you apply through JUPAS to nine institutions at once and rank the programmes you want. In August, JUPAS offers you the highest choice on your list that selects you, and that’s your only JUPAS offer for the year. With other qualifications, you apply to each university directly.
Letrado’s adviceYou can’t apply for the same programmes through both JUPAS and a direct route in one year, so choose your route before you start.
EducationUSA, the U.S. government’s network of study advisers, has an office at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. Its page also lists local scholarships for studying in the U.S.
PLAN YOUR YEAR
U.S., UK, and Hong Kong deadlines, results, and offers fall at different times. Seeing them together shows where you may need to decide before every result is in.
Hong Kong From October
UK Oct 15
18:00 UK time.
U.S. Often Nov 1
Penn’s Early Decision deadline is November 1.
Hong Kong Nov 25
Noon, Hong Kong time. Other universities set their own dates.
Hong Kong Dec 2
5:00 pm, Hong Kong time.
U.S. Jan 5
Other U.S. colleges set their own regular deadlines.
UK Jan 13
18:00 UK time.
Hong Kong Apr 6–May 3
HKEAA’s dates are still provisional.
U.S. May 1
The usual U.S. reply date, before HKDSE results or JUPAS offers arrive.
Exam results Early July
In 2026 they came out on July 6.
Exam results Jul 14
Provisional date.
Hong Kong Jul 14–16
Hong Kong Aug 4
Exam results Mid-August
In 2026 they came out on August 11. UK universities then confirm conditional offers.
U.S. dates vary by college, so check each college’s own page. HKEAA and JUPAS can still adjust their 2027 dates.
TRY THIS WITH EACH UNIVERSITY ON YOUR LIST
Open each university’s own pages and note an answer for every row. Bring the gaps and questions to our conversation, or work through them with your counselor.
| What to check | What to note for each university |
|---|---|
| Your qualification | Does it accept the certificate you’ll finish with, for direct entry? |
| Subjects and tests | Which subjects, grades, English tests, or admissions tests does the course need? |
| Dates | When is the deadline, when will you hear back, and when must you reply? |
| Full cost in Hong Kong dollars | Tuition, housing, flights, insurance, and visas for the whole degree. |
| Would you go? | If this were your only offer, would you be glad to go? |
PLAN THE COST
A U.S. bachelor’s degree usually takes four years, and many UK degrees take three, so plan for the whole degree. Because the Hong Kong dollar is linked to the U.S. dollar, it’s mainly your UK costs that move with exchange rates.
YOUR YEARLY BUDGET
Letrado’s adviceSince 1983, the Hong Kong dollar has been held between HK$7.75 and HK$7.85 to one U.S. dollar, so exchange rates barely change your U.S. costs. The pound isn’t linked, so run your UK budget again with the pound 10% stronger and keep an option that still works.
What it covers: The Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme supports local students at leading universities outside Hong Kong. For 2026/27 it covers tuition up to HK$300,000 a year, plus a means-tested bursary of up to HK$200,000 a year for living costs.
What you agree to: Awardees return to work in Hong Kong for at least two years after graduating, or as long as the scholarship lasted if that’s longer.
UK Student visa: You can apply up to six months before your course starts. You pay the health surcharge for every year of your visa when you apply.
U.S. student (F-1) visa: You apply once your college has sent your I-20 form. If you’re a U.S. citizen, you don’t need one.
A STUDENT FROM HONG KONG · D.K.
D.K. is a U.S. citizen who studied the IB at an international school in Hong Kong. She loved economics and philosophy, and she applied to U.S. universities while her IB exams and school deadlines carried on.
Her family had assumed that being a U.S. citizen settled financial aid and residency. It didn’t make every university’s rules the same, so they checked each university’s own policies.
Her application dates overlapped with school exams. A detailed plan protected her writing time and kept predicted grades and school submissions in view.
She wrote about revising a school lunch-subsidy proposal after a classmate questioned an assumption in her cost model.
Your passport, your school, and where you live can each follow different rules, so check them one at a time.
HER OFFERS
HER CHOICE: PENNUniversity of Pennsylvania · Photo: WestCoastivieS / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Cropped.
Penn let her combine economics and philosophy and explore courses across its schools. Her family compared the final aid packages before she decided. Several of her offers could have led to a good education, and choosing one didn’t make the others worse.
WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
