Taught Postgraduate (MSc)

1. Entrance Requirements

To be eligible for admission to the Taught Master programmes, a candidate shall satisfy both the University Entrance Requirements and the Programme Entrance Requirements including but not limited to:

• (a) comply with the General Regulations;
• (b) comply with the Regulations for Taught Postgraduate Curricula;
• (c) hold (i) a Bachelor’s degree of this University in a relevant field (note 1); or
  (ii) a relevant qualification of equivalent standard from this University or from another university or comparable institution accepted for this purpose;
• (d) satisfy the examiners in a qualifying examination if required; and
• (e) for a candidate who is seeking admission on the basis of a qualification from a university or comparable institution outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English, shall satisfy the University English language requirement applicable to high degrees as prescribed under General Regulation G2(b).

An application for exemption from the above requirements shall be considered on a case by case basis.

In addition, certain degree courses have more specific requirements. Qualifying examinations to test the applicants’ abilities to follow the prescribed courses and/or interviews may be conducted. Applicants with qualifications other than an honours degree will be considered on their individual merits.

Note 1:
For MSc(Eng) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering: engineering or computer science.
For MSc(Eng) in Energy Engineering: engineering or related sciences.

2. English Language Requirement

According to the University regulation, applicants who seek admission on the basis of a qualification from a university or a comparable institution outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English are required to obtain:

• a score of 550 or above (paper-based test), or 80 or above (internet-based) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) (note 2); or
• a minimum overall band of 6 with no subtest lower than 5.5 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS); or
• Grade C or above in the Overseas General Certificate of Education (GCE); or
• Grade C or above in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE); or
• Grade C or above in the Cambridge Test of Proficiency in English Language;

unless in exceptional circumstances applicants are exempted from this requirement.

Therefore, applicants under this category are required to submit proof of their English language ability such as TOEFL or IELTS test scores as soon as possible, preferably together with their formal applications to shorten processing time.

Note 2:
Applicants who take the TOEFL should request the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send an official score report to the University direct. For this purpose, the TOEFL code of the University is 9671. [It is a policy of the TOEFL Policy Council to validate scores which are obtained within a two-year period. The University therefore accepts this two-year validity rule in the admission exercise.]

3. Concurrent Registration

According to the General Regulation G6 of the University, concurrent registration by a student for another post-secondary qualification either at this University or at another institution is prohibited, unless approval of the Senate has been obtained in advance. A breach of this regulation in Hong Kong or elsewhere may result in discontinuation of studies at this University. For more details, please click HERE.

Due to limited quotas and considerably large amount of applications, applications fulfilling the above minimum requirement may not be successful. Moreover, we reserve the right to assess the academic and related experiences of the applicants and would not normally disclose any further information on our admission criteria and individual unsuccessful applications.

4. Exemption of Credits

Candidates can apply for counting up to 12 credits* successfully completed at this or another university before admission to the MSc curriculum in HKU towards completion of the degree. Candidates who wish to do so should make the request upon application for admission by completing the relevant column in the application form and providing ALL the supporting documents. Any application made after admission to the HKU MSc curriculum in Engineering will NOT be considered.

* For students admitted in the academic year of 2016-17 and thereafter

1. Application Procedures

Application materials are available online at https://portal.hku.hk/tpg-admissions. You can submit your application and application fee, which is non-refundable and non-transferable, online at: http://www.aal.hku.hk/tpg/. Payment by cash will NOT be accepted.

2. Required Supporting Documents

Along with the application the following documents are required to be submitted:

• Officially certified degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) of your graduate and undergraduate studies* (Transcripts, certificates and diplomas which are not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation in English. The back side of the transcript(s) should also be provided if it provides information on the grading system.)
• Official score report on an English Language proficiency test, such as TOEFL or IELTS (only for applicants with qualifications from institutions outside HK where the language of instruction and examination is not English)
• Completed calculation sheet to calculate the CGPA / average grade / average mark. Averaged mark should also be provided using the calculation sheet and preferably be “certified by the attending University”.
  N.B. Processing time for applications with “certified averaged marks” provided can be considerably shortened;
• You do NOT need to attach or send in academic / professional referees’ reports unless requested.

* An official copy can be an original copy or a certified true copy. For Students from Mainland China, an official copy of Bachelor degree certificate is also required. The University will only ACCEPT originals or copies of the documents that have been duly declared as true copies before a notary public (e.g. a Commissioner for Oaths at a City District Office in Hong Kong). Copies of documents may be certified by the appropriate officials of your home institution if you are an overseas applicant. No photocopies will be accepted.

3. Application Processing

Once an application has been received, it will be reviewed by the programme directors. The application status and pending documents required will be highlighted in the online application status system (see below). Normally, applications in the main round will be processed in batches of every three weeks until the available quotas are filled to reduce processing delay. Therefore, applicants are urged to submit their applications together with the relevant documents at their earliest convenience. Normally, we shall only consider local applicants in the clearing round.

The applicants may be interviewed on phone and a valid telephone number and email address should be provided. Difficulties in reaching the applicants in all form will result in failure of the applications. Since our quotas are limited, overseas applicants who are given an offer or a conditional offer of admission should reply to accept the offer before the deadline stated in their offer letters, otherwise, the offer will be void without further notice.

4. Application Status and Pending documents

Under the regulation of the Faculty of Engineering, the application cannot be processed until the following information has been provided:

• The completed application form;
• The application fee of HK$300 (non-refundable);
• Officially certified degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) of your graduate and undergraduate studies Transcripts, certificates and diplomas not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation in English.
• Official score report on an English Language proficiency test, such as TOEFL or IELTS, if required;
• Completed calculation sheet; Averaged mark should also be provided using the calculation sheet and preferably be “certified by the attending University”. N.B. Processing time for applications with “certified averaged marks” provided can be considerably shortened;
• You do NOT need to attach or send in academic / professional referees’ reports unless requested.

Since non-local applicants have to reserve sufficient time for visa applications, we strongly recommend that non-local applicants provide the supporting documents as soon as possible.

5. Selection of Programs

Due to limited quotas available, only one offer will be given to a qualified applicant even if he/she has applied for two or more programs offered by a department. Therefore, applicants are urged to consider carefully before submitting multiple applications to the department.

6. Application Timetable

Admission to the MSc (Eng) programs will start around Mid-October every year. Applications will be processed in batches until the quota is filled. As places are limited, applicants are advised to apply online and provide supporting documents as soon as possible.
The admission deadlines are:
Main round: January 2, 2025
Clearing round: 12:00noon (GMT +8), April 11, 2025
Note: Normally, only local applicants will be considered in the clearing round.

September 2025

The MSc programmes are offered on a self-funded basis.

The proposed composition fee for 2025/26 intake is HK$210,800 (local students) and HK$320,000 (non-local students), subject to the University’s approval.

The composition fee is paid annually in either two identical instalments for full-time students (within the one-year normative study period) or four identical instalments for part-time students (within the two-year normative study period).   Students will be continuing to charge the composition fee on semester / yearly basis if they exceed the normative study period.