Vocational courses top the list of university programmes popular with Form Seven students who recently obtained their A-level examination results.
Accounting, social work, nursing and business administration are among the students' most-preferred choices, or choices made in the Band A category of applications made under the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (Jupas).
Form Seven students were asked to pick and rank in order of preference 25 programmes late last year. They could make changes to the order in June and within two days after the release of the A-Level results early this month.
Nursing emerged as the second hottest choice at Polytechnic University and Chinese University, after accounting and integrated business administration respectively. It attracted 815 applications for 127 places at PolyU, and 463 applications for 138 places at CUHK. It ranked fifth in the top choices at the University of Hong Kong.
Sars was a catalyst in heightening demand for nursing degree places, said Diana Lee Tze-fan, programme co-ordinator at CUHK's Nethersole School of Nursing. The number of applications in the Band A category for the CUHK programme had risen by one-third over last year.
'The image of the profession has improved and students have also realised the important contribution it has for the community,' she said.