Universities accept outstanding pupils for the most popular courses before Form Sevens have even sat their A-levels
Fewer places in popular disciplines, particularly medicine, may be open to Form Seven graduates this year because universities have given priority to outstanding Form Six students under the Early Admission Scheme (EAS) introduced last year.
Half of the 140 first-year places in the University of Hong Kong's medical faculty have been snapped up by sixth-formers, selected on the basis of results in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination taken in Form Five.
A quota of two per cent of a univeristy's intake was originally imposed on the number of early admission students. But that was suspended by the University Grants Committee this year when only three universities decided to participate. A total of 416 students have been accepted this year.
Half of the 40 places in HKU's business administration (law) programme had been filled by Form Six students before Form Sevens had even sat their A-levels. Sixth formers also account for more than a third of the 140 places in Chinese University's medical faculty.
The early intake is also likely to effect the number of places available in medicine for non-Jupas candidates.
Alison Lee Siu-moon, CUHK's medical faculty admission secretary, said: 'Last year we accepted 30 non-Jupas applicants. This year we will try to get 20. We adjust their number every year on the basis of the number of applications and applicants' quality.''
