The Education Bureau (EDB) today (July 4) announced the completion of the selection process of the third cohort of the School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme (SNDAS).
A total of 777 valid SNDAS nominations were received from 405 secondary schools for the third cohort. In the past few months, the eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities participating in the Scheme arranged interviews for the nominated students and carefully considered their individual merits. Firm offers were eventually made to 332 nominees prior to the release of the 2024 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination results, of which 326 have accepted the offers and will commence study on their chosen UGC-funded undergraduate programmes in September 2024 in a wide spectrum of disciplines including architecture, surveying and town planning, arts and humanities, business, computing and engineering, education, environmental studies, design, fine arts, language, law, medicine and health, music, sciences, social sciences and more. A breakdown by discipline of study is provided in the Annex.
The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, was pleased to note the encouraging results of the third cohort of the SNDAS, in particular the continuing increase in the number of offers made to successful nominees.
"Talents of diversified skills and knowledge are essential to the future development of Hong Kong. The Government has long been attaching great importance to nurturing young people and is committed to enhancing the diversity of our education system, allowing students to realise their full potential through the creation of different opportunities and space for them. I am immensely appreciative of the secondary schools' nomination of, and the universities' support for, the SNDAS as well as their recognition of students' diverse talents," Dr Choi said.
The fourth cohort of the SNDAS will be open for applications by Secondary Six students taking the 2025 HKDSE Examinations and commencing their undergraduate studies in September 2025. Details of the application arrangements will be announced in due course.
The SNDAS was introduced in 2021 as part of the Government's response to the recommendations made by the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum, which included enhancing the flexibility in university admissions. The eight UGC-funded universities had designated a total of over 220 publicly funded undergraduate programmes to participate in the third cohort of the SNDAS and set admission criteria that are not based on HKDSE Examination results for individual programmes.
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