CUHK Admission Requirements: The Four Routes (JUPAS, Non-JUPAS, Mainland Gaokao, International) and College Allocation

Module: 02 Admissions · Sub-file: Undergraduate Admissions Routes Last updated: 28 September 2026 (adds 2026 programme changes, results release and mainland admissions plan) This article focuses on The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, main campus at Ma Liu Shui, Sha Tin), and does not cover the separately governed "The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen". Admissions data ages extremely quickly; every figure below is labelled with its year, and the official latest announcements should always be taken as authoritative. The main frame of reference is 2025 entry / the 2025–26 academic year, supplemented with 2026 entry programme-change competition ratios, results-release outcomes and the mainland admissions plan; some programme scores are only available for 2023 or 2024 and are flagged individually.

CUHK's undergraduate admissions follow a principle of "diverse intake", with four independent routes:

Beyond the four main routes, CUHK also takes part in two Education Bureau special admissions schemes that are "not driven by DSE results" — the School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme (SNDAS) and the Principal's Nomination Scheme (SPN). See Section 5.

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# 1. JUPAS Admissions (HKDSE)

JUPAS (Joint University Programmes Admissions System)^※ is the main channel through which Hong Kong DSE candidates enter University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded degree programmes, and the overwhelming majority of CUHK's local places are allocated through it; for how UGC funding is calculated and how local tuition fees are set, see Tuition Fees and Self-Financing Programmes.

# 1. Minimum University Requirements: 332A in the core subjects

Since 2024, the DSE Liberal Studies subject has been replaced by "Citizenship and Social Development" (graded only as Attained / Not Attained), and CUHK has accordingly changed its minimum threshold from the old "3322" to "332A"^※:

According to CUHK's official admissions office explanation^※, the minimum subject combination is 4 core subjects + 2 electives, or 4 core subjects + 1 elective + Mathematics Extended Part (M1/M2) / another language subject; electives generally require Level 3. Where another language subject is used to meet the requirement, the thresholds are: French / German / Spanish A2 or above, Japanese N3 or above, Korean and other languages Grade 3 or above. CUHK's simplified-Chinese page writes the full threshold as "332A33" — the first four characters are the core subjects, and the last two mean that two further electives must reach Level 3.

Meeting the minimum university requirements does not mean being admitted — admission is competitive and merit-based, and each programme sets "programme-specific requirements"^※ (for example, medicine requires Biology / Chemistry, and Quantitative Finance weights Mathematics heavily). For each programme's JS code and its faculty, see programme-catalogue.md in the same directory.

# 2. Admissions Score Calculation: CUHK's "two conversion scales side by side"

To understand CUHK admissions scores, the key is first to recognise the two conversion scales — this is the single most commonly misread point in public discussion.

(A) General programme conversion (common to Hong Kong's eight UGC universities):

According to CUHK's "Useful Information for JUPAS Applicants (2026)"^※, under the general conversion a 5** counts as 8.5 points (not 7). If all five subjects in the Best 5 are 5**, the maximum is 42.5 points (5×8.5).

(B) Medicine-specific conversion (JS4501 Medicine / JS4502 GPS):

According to CUHK's scoring explanation as compiled by HK01^※, the two medicine programmes use a "linear 7-point scale", under which a 5** counts as only 7 points. Precisely because the two scales differ, a median in medicine and a median in business can never be compared directly — the former is on a 7-point scale over 6 subjects, the latter on an 8.5-point scale over a Best 5.

(C) Subject weighting: Many of CUHK's "god programmes" (神科) weight designated subjects before counting them into the Best 5, pushing nominal scores far above the "theoretical maximum" of 42.5. Common weightings (as compiled by HK01^※):

Because weighting inflates scores, the nominal scores of programmes such as Quantitative Finance and Computational Data Science run markedly higher than those of equally weighted Best 5 programmes — this is not because the candidates are "stronger", but the arithmetic result of ×2 / ×1.5 weightings pushing up the denominator. When comparing scores across years, readers must first check which conversion table and how many subjects were used that year.

# 3. Admissions Scores by Programme (mixed bases — always check the year)

Each year CUHK publishes "Admission Grades of JUPAS Applicants", listing each programme's median and upper / lower quartiles. The table below combines official and admissions-media sources. Every figure carries a scoring scale; scores from programmes using different scoring methods cannot be compared with one another; the exact figures are those in the official PDF.

Faculty of Medicine (official basis, 7-point scale, 2024/25 academic year)

After Citizenship and Social Development replaced Liberal Studies, CUHK medicine admissions switched from counting "7 subjects" to "6 subjects" (which must include Chinese, English, Maths and the best of Biology / Chemistry), with a maximum of 42 across 6 subjects (6×7). According to CU Medicine's press release of 7 August 2024^※:

According to the same press release: GPS (JS4502) has for 11 consecutive years^※ posted the highest admissions scores of any university programme in Hong Kong (median 40.5); that academic year the Faculty of Medicine admitted 212 DSE candidates, 72% of its places (295 places in total), the seventh consecutive year in which DSE candidates took 70% or more of its places; of the 8 "super top scorers" who achieved 5** or above in 6 subjects that year, 5 chose CUHK Medicine; and it stated that "nearly half of Hong Kong's top 100 elite students chose CUHK Medicine".

Other programmes (media compilation, 2023 entry basis)

The following is an admissions platform's compilation of 2023-entry medians by programme; because of weighting and year-to-year fluctuation it is for orders of magnitude only, and the exact figures are those in the official "Admission Grades" PDF:

In media 2023-basis listings, JS4501 / JS4502 were once shown with "4C+2X/3X" and higher figures (MBChB 43, GPS 47), which are on a different year and a different scoring basis from the Faculty of Medicine's official "6 subjects, 7-point, median 37.0 / 40.5" above, and must not be mixed together; for medicine, the official press release takes precedence. Source: DSE Source's compilation of CUHK admission scores^※.

# 4. Programme-Choice Changes and "Band A"

JUPAS applicants may choose up to 20 programmes, split into Band A (1st–3rd choices), Band B, Band C and so on. After the DSE results are released there is one free "modification" window, in which up to 5 programmes may be changed, still subject to the 20-programme limit. Band A (especially the first choice) matters greatly for both interviews and admission — most CUHK programmes interview only those who place them in their first three choices. Long-running public controversies over weighted scoring inflating god-programme scores, Band A game theory, and the modification window being too short are directed to the wilder-history article ../17-wilder-policies/source-directory.md; this article does not treat them as fact.

# 5. Competition Ratios: Who Is the Most "Godly"? (2025 modification basis)

According to Sing Tao Daily's compilation of CUHK data after the first round of 2025 JUPAS programme changes^※ (calculated as the number of applicants listing the programme in their first three choices, divided by places):

2026 modification basis: According to HK01's compilation of the 2026 JUPAS modification results (20 July 2026)^※, CUHK's five most competitive programmes were as follows (Band A applicants ÷ places):

In the same set of statistics, the most applied-to was the Faculty of Science broad-based intake (335 places, 1,418 Band A applicants), followed by the Bachelor of Business Administration (212 places, 780 applicants) and Nursing (217 places, 642 applicants). Health and Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation, which topped the list last year, fell from about 37 applicants per place to about 18, and the top spot passed to Early Childhood Education with only 19 places — ratios for small-intake programmes are inherently volatile, so year-on-year comparisons are better made on applicant numbers than on multiples alone.

"37 applicants per place", "23 applicants per place" and "god programme" are competition framings coined by admissions media, not official admission statistics; public rumours about "score reductions" and "internal mark-ups" are all directed to the wilder-history article, and this article does not treat them as fact.

# 5b. 2026 Results Release

The 2026 JUPAS main round results were announced on 5 August. According to Ta Kung Wen Wei's report that day^※, CUHK admitted 2,855 undergraduates through JUPAS, almost all of them Band A candidates, with the JUPAS share of admissions exceeding 80% for the fifth consecutive year. That year's DSE produced 24 top scorers in total (the most ever), of whom 12 (4 seven-subject 5** super top scorers and 8 six-subject 5** top scorers) entered CUHK's MBChB programme and its Global Physician-Leadership Stream (GPS) through JUPAS, about half of all Hong Kong top scorers.

On the Faculty of Medicine side, a CUHK press release (5 August 2026)^※ stated that the Faculty admitted 210 DSE candidates through JUPAS, with local JUPAS students making up more than 70% of its total intake (the ninth consecutive year); GPS, for the 13th consecutive year, recorded the highest median of any undergraduate programme in Hong Kong, with a GPS median of 41 points and a regular MBChB median of 37 points (on that press release's basis).

In 2024 CUHK admitted 3,019 students through JUPAS (F&F 2024/25), against 2,855 in 2026. Whether the two figures are on the same basis (for example, whether the School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme is included) has not been officially explained, and it would be wrong to subtract one from the other and read it as a "cut in intake".

# 6. Interviews

• Most programmes arrange interviews "as the case may be", and usually issue them only to applicants who place the programme among their first three choices. According to HK01^※, most programmes offered by CUHK's Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Social Science and Faculty of Arts have interview requirements.
• For Medicine (MBChB / GPS), all applicants considered for admission must be interviewed^※; GPS additionally values leadership and past achievements.
• The Bachelor of Business Administration (IBBA) holds two rounds of interviews (including group discussion), open only to those who place it among their first three choices.

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# 2. Non-JUPAS Admissions

This applies to local and non-local students applying not on the basis of HKDSE results. Accepted qualifications include: the IB Diploma, GCE / International A-Level, sub-degree (associate degree / higher diploma), Cambridge Pre-U, HKALE and so on; holders of overseas qualifications instead go through the International Admissions system (see Section 4).

# 1. Official "minimum reference score ranges" (2026 entry onwards)

According to CUHK's "Reference Scores for Major International Qualifications" (October 2025 edition)^※ — a table compiled from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 admission cohorts, giving a "minimum reference score range" for each programme, and stating explicitly: admission does not rest on public examination results alone, each programme's actual admission scores fluctuate from year to year, and the table is for reference only. The highest scores ever recorded among those admitted to CUHK are IB 45/45, GCE A-Level 6A*, SAT 1580/1600^※.

The table below extracts the "minimum reference range" for selected programmes (IB Diploma / GCE AL-IAL):

The table above gives "minimum reference ranges", not a guarantee of admission; actual admits to the top god programmes (Medicine, Global Business Studies, Computational Data Science) are generally above the lower bound of the range. All Non-JUPAS applicants must separately meet the Chinese and English language requirements. For the full list of programmes, see programme-catalogue.md in the same directory.

# 2. Sub-Degree Transfer and "Admission with Advanced Standing"

Holders of GCE-AL, International-AL, IB, Cambridge Pre-U, HKALE or associate degree / higher diploma qualifications who meet the conditions may apply for "Admission with Advanced Standing": according to CUHK's Non-JUPAS explanation^※, the units required for graduation may be reduced by up to about 23–24 (the cap differs slightly by faculty; the business school's cap is 23), i.e. shortening the period of study by up to about one year. Sub-degree graduates (those who have taken associate degrees / higher diplomas at HKCC, SPEED, HKU SPACE, etc.) are one of CUHK's important sources of local Non-JUPAS students, commonly called "Asso 升 U" (associate degree to university). The actual number of units exempted is assessed subject by subject by the faculty concerned, and the cap is not guaranteed.

# 3. Language and Programme-Specific Requirements

Whatever the qualification, Non-JUPAS applicants must separately meet the Chinese and English language requirements (locally through the DSE or equivalent; overseas students through IELTS / TOEFL, etc.). The god programmes set additional programme-specific prerequisites — for example, medicine requires Biology / Chemistry, Quantitative Finance and Computational Data Science weigh Mathematics heavily, and Law weighs English heavily. Meeting the overall score range in "Reference Scores" only gets you past the gate; admission still depends on prerequisites, ranking after weighting, and (where applicable) interview.

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# 3. Mainland Gaokao (National Unified College Admissions · Early Batch)

CUHK has admitted mainland undergraduates since 1998, and according to CUHK's simplified-Chinese undergraduate admissions site^※, more than 6,700 mainland students have since studied undergraduate programmes at CUHK. Admission is through the "National Unified College Admissions Scheme (gaokao, mainland China's national university entrance exam)", listed by the Ministry of Education in the early admission batch, with national unified institution code 81002.

# 1. Admissions Mechanism (2025 / 2026 entry basis)

# 2. Entrance Scholarship Thresholds (brief; see the tuition and scholarships article for amounts)

CUHK offers several tiers of entrance scholarship to mainland gaokao students, with no separate application required, assessed automatically on the basis of the admission score. According to CUHK's simplified-Chinese undergraduate admissions site^※:

What is popularly called the "top scorer scholarship" corresponds to the "Full Scholarship" tier. For scholarship details (amounts, conditions for renewal), see tuition-and-scholarships.md in the same directory.

# 3. Gaokao Students with "Local Student" Status

Mainland gaokao students who hold Hong Kong "local student" status (for example, a One-way Permit, or a dependant visa under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme / Top Talent Pass Scheme and aged under 18 at the time of first approval) must also apply through the early batch of the mainland examination authority after the gaokao results are released; those admitted pay tuition and accommodation at the local student rate. Any change of status during study must be reported to the University immediately, but an offer already made is not withdrawn because of a change of status (according to CUHK's simplified-Chinese admissions site).

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# 4. International Students / Overseas and Other Qualifications

Non-local international students apply through the International Admissions system.

• Qualifications: Mainstream university-preparatory qualifications from various countries are accepted (IB, A-Level, US high school diploma + SAT/ACT/AP, Canadian OSSD/BC, Australian ATAR, Malaysian UEC/STPM, etc.); for specific reference scores see the official "Reference Scores" table in Section 2, with SAT ranges listed separately in that PDF.
• Language: An acceptable level of English (such as IELTS / TOEFL) is required, and individual programmes set additional Chinese requirements.
• Advanced-standing transfer accepted: Those who have completed at least 1 year of an undergraduate programme at a recognised university, or at least 1 year of a sub-degree programme, may also apply.
• Scholarships: International applicants need not apply separately for scholarships; CUHK assesses them automatically on the basis of admission results, academic performance and interview (see the tuition and scholarships article). From 2026 a "Phoenix Scholarship" has also been introduced, aimed at those with outstanding results in local and overseas public examinations^※, offering scholarships and overseas exchange opportunities, with the amount undisclosed.
• Application volume: According to a CUHK press release of 6 August 2026^※, non-local applications in 2026 rose by about 20% over the previous year, with applications from outside mainland China up about 75%, mainly from Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
• Fees: Non-local undergraduate tuition was HK$178,000 per year in 2025–26; for 2026–27 it rises to HK$214,000 per year (see the tuition article).

International admissions and the mainland gaokao unified scheme are two separate tracks: the former is for non-local students with overseas qualifications, assessed file by file through the international system (interviews may be held), while the latter is for mainland gaokao students, admitted through the early batch on merit by score and with no interview. Mainland-domiciled students holding IB / A-Level qualifications who do not sit the gaokao usually apply through the international / Non-JUPAS route rather than the unified scheme.

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# 5. Special Admissions Schemes: SNDAS and the Principal's Nomination Scheme

Besides the four main routes, CUHK also takes part in two Education Bureau admissions schemes that are "not driven by DSE results", opening a channel for Secondary 6 students who "have special talent in a particular subject but cannot be fully assessed through the DSE".

# 1. School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme (SNDAS)

According to the Education Bureau's SNDAS policy page^※, the scheme is nominated by principals and does not consider public examination results, allowing students with special or diverse talents to gain admission to UGC-funded university programmes before the DSE results are released; nominated students must also apply through JUPAS, and may not take part in the Principal's Nomination Scheme or the Student-Athlete Learning Support and Admission Scheme at the same time.

Media accounts of CUHK's specific admission figures differ: Sing Tao Daily^※ at one point reported that CUHK admitted 55 students directly under the scheme (against 118 at HKU); while according to a compilation by the International Education Alliance^※, in one cohort CUHK received nominations of 169 students from 152 secondary schools and ultimately admitted 54 (against 140 at HKU). The two sets of figures relate to different years and different points of compilation; this article sets them side by side from their sources and does not adjudicate. CUHK's MBChB programme was also among the designated SNDAS programmes in the 2025/26 academic year.

# 2. Principal's Nomination Scheme (SPN)

A separate scheme running in parallel with SNDAS, likewise nominated by principals and not driven by DSE results; the two schemes may not be taken part in simultaneously. Candidates should note each school's specific quotas and nomination requirements.

Both schemes emphasise "special talent"; anonymised cases and public discussion of a "nomination black box" and "quota allocation" are directed to the wilder-history article ../17-wilder-policies/source-directory.md.

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# 6. College Selection Mechanism

CUHK is the only university in Hong Kong operating a college system. Founded in 1963 as a federation of three colleges — Chung Chi, New Asia and United — it now has nine colleges: Chung Chi, New Asia, United, Shaw, Morningside, S.H. Ho, Lee Woo Sing, Wu Yee Sun and CW Chu. Every undergraduate belongs simultaneously to a faculty and a college; the college is responsible for whole-person education, residence, general education and mentorship (for details of the colleges, see Module 10, ../10-colleges/README.md).

# Allocation Rules (summarised from CUHK's admissions explanation)

Some of the newer colleges (those founded after 2006) are fully residential with communal dining, offering residence throughout the programme and a communal dining culture, but at correspondingly higher cost (see the "accommodation fees" section of the tuition article); the older colleges (Chung Chi / New Asia / United) occupy large areas of campus and have many students.

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# Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How are DSE results scored at CUHK?

A: CUHK admissions use two conversion scales. General programmes use an "8.5-point scale", where a 5** counts as 8.5 points, a 5* as 7 and a 5 as 5.5, and the maximum for a Best 5 all at 5** is 42.5 points; medicine (JS4501 Medicine, JS4502 GPS) uses a "linear 7-point scale", where a 5** counts as only 7 points, calculated over 6 subjects (Chinese, English, Maths and the best of Biology / Chemistry), with a maximum of 42 points. The two scales cannot be compared directly. In addition, many programmes weight designated subjects (for example, Law weights English ×2 and Quantitative Finance weights English ×2 / Maths ×2), which pushes nominal scores well above the theoretical maximum of 42.5.

Q: Roughly what JUPAS scores does CUHK require?

A: On the official 2024/25 academic year basis, for example, Medicine (MBChB) had a median of 37.0 (maximum 42, 6 subjects on a 7-point scale), and the GPS stream had a median of 40.5, the highest admissions score of any university in Hong Kong for 11 consecutive years. Media compilations on a 2023-entry basis show Law with a median of 45.25, Computer Science and Engineering 42.5 and the Bachelor of Business Administration 26 — because of weighting and year-to-year fluctuation, scores for different programmes cannot be compared directly, and the exact figures are those in the official "Admission Grades" PDF.

Q: What are CUHK's minimum JUPAS requirements?

A: Since 2024 the minimum threshold has been "332A": Chinese Language Level 3, English Language Level 3, Mathematics (Compulsory Part) Level 2, and Citizenship and Social Development Attained. The minimum subject combination is 4 core subjects + 2 electives, or 4 core subjects + 1 elective + Mathematics Extended Part / another language subject, with electives generally requiring Level 3. But meeting the minimum requirements does not mean being admitted; each programme sets additional programme-specific requirements, and admission is competitive and merit-based.

Q: What is generally asked in CUHK undergraduate interviews?

A: This page does not record the content of specific interview questions, but the rules on interview arrangements can be confirmed: most programmes arrange interviews "as the case may be", and usually issue them only to applicants who place the programme among their first three choices; for Medicine (MBChB / GPS), all applicants considered for admission must be interviewed, and GPS additionally values leadership and past achievements; the Bachelor of Business Administration (IBBA) holds two rounds of interviews (including group discussion), likewise open only to those who place it among their first three choices.

Q: What are the entry requirements for CUHK?

A: CUHK has four independent undergraduate entry routes: JUPAS (for HKDSE candidates, minimum threshold 332A), Non-JUPAS (for non-DSE qualifications such as IB / GCE A-Level / sub-degree), mainland gaokao (early-batch unified code 81002, with an English subject score of 120 required), and international students / overseas qualifications (through the International Admissions system, meeting an English language threshold such as IELTS / TOEFL). The four routes are assessed independently; meeting the minimum threshold does not mean being admitted, and actual admission is competitive and merit-based within each programme.

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# Data Reliability and Gaps

• Official hard data (with year / source noted): the 332A threshold, the two conversion scales, the Faculty of Medicine's official admission figures, the Non-JUPAS "Reference Scores" ranges, the mainland unified scheme mechanism (81002 / early batch / English 120 / scholarship thresholds / 6,700 students), the SNDAS rules and the history of the college system are all taken directly from CUHK's admissions website, Faculty of Medicine press releases, the Education Bureau or official PDFs.
• Media compilations (2023 medians by programme, 2025 competition ratios): taken from the admissions sections of HK01, Sing Tao, DSE Source and others; these are second-hand compilations, and the exact figures are those in the official "Admission Grades" PDF.
• Differences in basis are set side by side: the SNDAS admission figures for CUHK (55 vs 54) relate to different years / points of compilation and are set side by side from their sources without adjudication; the 2023 media basis for medicine (43 / 47) and the official 6-subject basis (37.0 / 40.5) rest on different scoring methods and are noted as not to be mixed.
• Claims that could not be substantiated have been excluded: rumours without reliable sources, such as "score reductions" and "internal mark-ups", are not adopted and are directed to the wilder-history article.

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