Admissions · Hong Kong
University of Hong Kong (HKU) Acceptance Rate: Admissions Statistics and English Requirements
HKU does not publish an acceptance rate or the number of applications it receives. Its official figures show 5,541 new undergraduates admitted for 2025/26, 42.0% of them non-local, up from 4,860 (33.9% non-local) in 2024/25.
HKU's Quick Stats report how many new students the University admitted each year and what share are non-local, but not how many applied or received offers; JUPAS, the Hong Kong admissions system, publishes only system-wide totals. This page shows the official HKU figures, explains what they count, and lists the IELTS and TOEFL scores international applicants need.
Figures read from official sources on · LingoLeap Admissions Research
University of Hong Kong (HKU) acceptance rate by year
HKU new students by level and non-local share
| Group | Cycle | Rate | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taught postgraduate | 2025/26 | 77.1% non-local | 14,611 new students (12,969 in 2024/25, 76.4% non-local). source |
| Research postgraduate | 2025/26 | 88.6% non-local | 1,285 new students (1,176 in 2024/25, 88.8% non-local). source |
| Non-local students, UGC-funded undergraduate programmes | 2024/25 | 30.1% | 4,204 full-time-equivalent non-local students, equivalent to 30.1% of HKU's 13,964 local student places (provisional government figures; all years of study). source |
What the numbers mean
The Quick Stats admission figures are headcounts of new students, across all funding sources, excluding exchange and visiting students; 'non-local' is decided by nationality. They are counts of students who enrolled, not of offers, and HKU publishes no applications total, so no acceptance rate can be calculated from official data. Rates quoted by other websites are estimates.
The international intake is growing fast. Non-local students were 33.9% of new undergraduates in 2024/25 and 42.0% in 2025/26, when HKU admitted 681 more undergraduates in total. Local Hong Kong students mostly apply through JUPAS with HKDSE results; international and Mainland students apply directly to HKU (non-JUPAS) with qualifications such as IB, A-levels, SAT/AP or the Gaokao.
At postgraduate level HKU is overwhelmingly international: more than three-quarters of new taught postgraduates and almost nine in ten new research postgraduates in 2025/26 were non-local.
University of Hong Kong (HKU) TOEFL and IELTS requirements
Minimums for international applicants from the university's own pages. Since 21 January 2026 TOEFL iBT reports a 1–6 band score; the notes give the older 0–120 equivalent where the university states one. Convert TOEFL and IELTS scores.
Undergraduate (international qualifications)
TOEFL iBT: Tests on or after 21 January 2026: 5.0 overall with Writing 5.0 and Speaking 5.0 (2026 1–6 scale). Tests before 21 January 2026: 95 overall with Writing 25 and Speaking 25 (pre-2026 0–120 scale).
IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in Writing and Speaking, in the same attempt
Taken within 2 years before the programme starts (1 September). Not accepted: IELTS Online / IELTS Indicator, TOEFL Home Edition, TOEFL ITP and ITP Plus. HKU marks the requirement 'subject to approval'.
HKU Admissions Office, English Language Requirement (international qualifications) · checked 3 October 2026
Check your score against University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Take a free 2026-format TOEFL mock test for a 1–6 band estimate, then compare it with the minimum above and with other universities' requirements.
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What is the HKU acceptance rate?
HKU does not publish one, and it does not publish how many applications it receives, so there is no official acceptance rate. What it does publish is admissions: 5,541 new undergraduates in 2025/26 and 4,860 in 2024/25.
What is the University of Hong Kong acceptance rate for international students?
Not published. HKU's figures show non-local students made up 42.0% of new undergraduates in 2025/26 (by nationality), up from 33.9% in 2024/25, so roughly 2,300 non-local undergraduates started in 2025/26. That is a share of the intake, not an acceptance rate.
What TOEFL score does HKU require?
For TOEFL iBT taken on or after 21 January 2026: 5.0 overall on the 1–6 scale with at least 5.0 in Writing and Speaking. For tests taken before that date: 95 overall on the legacy 0–120 scale with at least 25 in Writing and Speaking. Scores must come from one attempt within two years before 1 September of your entry year; TOEFL Home Edition and ITP are not accepted.
What IELTS score does HKU require?
IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in Writing and Speaking, in the same attempt and within two years before 1 September of your entry year. IELTS Online and the IELTS Indicator are not accepted.
Is HKU harder to get into than other Hong Kong universities?
There is no official acceptance rate for any Hong Kong university to compare. HKU does report that its 2025 JUPAS entrants had the highest average HKDSE admission scores among Hong Kong institutions, according to HKU — the closest official measure of selectivity for local applicants.