Launch of School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme for local universities

     The Education Bureau (EDB) today (September 23) announced that the School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme (SNDAS) will be launched in the 2022/23 academic year and will be open for application by Secondary Six students who will be taking the 2022 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination and commencing their undergraduate studies in September 2022. 
      
     The EDB set up the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum in November 2017 to holistically review the primary and secondary curricula. The review report submitted by the Task Force to the EDB in September 2020 put forward six directional recommendations, including the implementation of a new direct admission scheme to enhance flexibility in university admissions.
      
     A spokesman for the EDB said, "The SNDAS is a scheme that allows students with special and diversified talents to match with programmes that suit their potential. It is introduced with the aim of recognising the exceptional talent of students in specific disciplines that may not be fully assessed by the HKDSE Examination. It will provide opportunities for these students to be considered for direct admission to local universities."
      
     The nomination period of the inaugural cohort of the SNDAS will run from October 6 to December 8, 2021. Students who intend to apply for their interested programmes through the SNDAS must be nominated by their secondary schools. Each local secondary school can nominate two students with exceptional talents and interests in specific disciplines/areas, and each student nominee can apply for admission to one designated University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded undergraduate programme participating in the SNDAS. 
      
     Participating universities will arrange interviews for all students nominated for the SNDAS and make firm offers to successful students prior to the release of the 2022 HKDSE Examination results.
      
     The eight UGC-funded universities have designated around 140 publicly funded undergraduate programmes to participate in the inaugural cohort of the SNDAS and set admission criteria that are not based on HKDSE Examination results for individual programmes. Details of the SNDAS and specific admission requirements of the participating programmes have been uploaded onto the scheme's website (www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/postsecondary/policy-doc/SNDAS/index.html).
      
     The EDB reminded that the SNDAS is introduced to provide an additional pathway to university for students with exceptional talents. Those who have been nominated for the SNDAS, like other Secondary Six students, should apply for admission to universities through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System in parallel and sit for the HKDSE Examinations so as not to limit their opportunities for further studies.