Taiwan on the rise as education destination
More of Hong Kong's students apply for places at universities on the island, while applications to study for a degree on the mainland fall
An increasing number of Hong Kong students have applied to pursue higher education in Taiwan in the past two years, the South China Morning Post has found.
The number has risen from 4,097 in 2012 - when a double cohort of students competed for university places - to 4,585 in 2013, according to statistics from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong.
This year, 3,130 students out of about 79,000 sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education this summer, have already applied for the 2014-15 intake through a "first-stage" admissions procedure based on academic performance in the last three years.
It is a 50.9 per cent increase year on year compared to 1,595 applicants in 2013.
The trend contrasts with the number of students applying to mainland universities - which dropped from about 4,000 in 2012 to 3,063 in 2013.
The rate of success for applications to universities in Taiwan and on the mainland is similar - about 55 per cent.
An education consultant said applications to Taiwan's universities outran those for the mainland as the admissions procedures were more "lenient" and the offer of a place served as a safety net if they failed to get into preferred universities.