Research Postgraduate Programmes Admission Requirements
Academic Qualification Requirements
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Applicants seeking admission to the PhD degree programme should possess:
- A master’s degree from a recognised university or comparable institution; or
- A bachelor’s degree with first class honours from a recognised university or comparable institution; or
- Any other qualification deemed by the Graduate School to be acceptable for this purpose.
Candidates under paragraph 2 should have evidence of research achievement/experience. They may be admitted to the MPhil programme initially, but with a view to proceeding to the PhD programme after satisfactorily passing an assessment at the time of candidature confirmation.
Candidates under paragraph 3 may be required to take an assessment, in which event their progress shall be reported to the Graduate School at the end of their first year of study.
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
Applicants seeking admission to the MPhil degree programme should possess:
- A bachelor’s degree with honours from a recognised university or comparable institution; or
- A qualification deemed to be equivalent; and shall, if required, satisfy the examiners in a qualifying examination.
Normally, only first and second class honours graduates will be considered to have met the admissions criterion under paragraph 1. Graduates with third class honours degrees, with a period of relevant work experience and satisfactory results in the qualifying examination, may also be considered.
Language Proficiency Requirements
General Requirements
An applicant who is seeking admission on the basis of a qualification from a university or comparable institution of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English is required to obtain a minimum score in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) at 550 (PBT)/79 (IBT) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) at 6.5.
Students are also required to meet the subscore requirement of TOEFL (Reading ≥18; Listening ≥18; Speaking≥18; Writing≥19) or IELTS (at least 5.5 for Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing).
Students failing to meet the English language proficiency requirement, if admitted before 2019/20, will have to take English enhancement course(s) after commencement of study and pass the threshold standard in relevant international English proficiency test before their oral examination. Those that are admitted from 2019/20 will have to complete the English enhancement course(s) offered by the University's Language Centre before confirmation of candidature, or pass the threshold standard in IELTS/TOEFL before the oral examination.
Faculty of Science and School of Chinese Medicine
For Faculty of Science and School of Chinese Medicine, consideration will also be made for applicants with a minimum overall score in the College English Test (CET) Band 6 at 500 and grade B in the CET-SET (Speaking English Test). These students will have to take an English proficiency test upon commencement of study to determine whether and which level of English enhancement course is required and pass the threshold standard in relevant international English proficiency test before their oral examination.
Specific Requirements by Faculty/School/AVA
Academy of Visual Arts
Please refer to the website for the required documents. Please submit your Résumé, Examples of artworks and Artist’s statement to AVA direct.
School of Business
Please provide GMAT or GRE score upon application. You may refer to the website for further details.
School of Communication
Please refer to the guideline for further details.
Other Admission Criteria
The Faculty/School/Academy, in approving the application, also takes into account a number of factors, including:
- Academic excellence (i.e. GPA, professional qualifications, awards, scholarships, etc.)
- Research ability and potential (i.e. quality of the research proposal, the feasibility to carry out the research and the potential and value of the research to the department)
- Cultural diversity (i.e. whether the student would contribute to the diversify of the learning environment)
- Leadership ability and societal responsibility (i.e. proven experience in professional and/or extracurricular activities and good sense of societal responsibility)
- Communication and interpersonal skills (i.e. ability to articulate and express ideas and concepts in English both verbally and in written form)
For the programme-specific requirements, please click here for the details.
