The Education Bureau today announced that the selection process for the inaugural cohort of the School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme was completed, under which 186 students accepted the university offers.

A total of 766 valid nominations were received from 403 secondary schools for the inaugural cohort, it said.

The eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities participating in the scheme then arranged interviews for all nominated students and carefully considered each nominee's merits.

Firm offers were made to 195 successful nominees prior to the release of this year's Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination results. Among them, 186 accepted the offers and will begin their studies on their chosen undergraduate programmes in September in a wide spectrum of disciplines.

Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin said she was pleased to note the encouraging results of the inaugural cohort and appreciated the universities' support for this new scheme as well as their recognition of students' diverse talent.

She pointed out that the Government strives to nurture young people and is committed to enhancing the education system and creating space for students to reach their full potential.

Hong Kong also requires diversified talent to meet the development needs of society and enhance its competitiveness, she added.

As such, in addition to optimising senior secondary subjects, the Government introduced this scheme to enable UGC-funded universities to consider the direct admission of local secondary students with talent that may not be fully assessed by the HKDSE Examination on the basis of their outstanding performance in individual subjects or fields, thereby providing an opportunity for the students to pursue studies in programmes of their choice.

The second cohort of the scheme will open for applications by Secondary 6 students who will sit for the next HKDSE Examination and start their undergraduate studies in September 2023. Relevant details will be announced in due course.

The Task Force on Review of School Curriculum submitted a report to the Education Bureau on the review of primary and secondary curricula in September 2020, in which six directional recommendations were put forward, including the implementation of a new direct admission scheme to enhance flexibility in university admissions.

The bureau accepted the recommendation and introduced the scheme in 2021.