The Joint University Programmes Admissions System (Chinese: 大學聯合招生辦法) or JUPAS (聯招) in Hong Kong is a unified system for applying to the nine member institutions for full-time undergraduate programmes In 2008 admissions, 35,298[1] students applied for programs of the 9 institutions under this scheme. The scheme initially included all the full-time government funded degrees from the member institute, before the participation of full-time government-funded sub-degrees in 2000, and self-financed full-time degrees in 2006.
The system was introduced in 1990 to unify the process of admission of the 5 universities in Hong Kong on that time. Initially starting with City University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and The University of Hong Kong. Later added with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (1991), The Hong Kong Institute of Education (1998), Lingnan University (1999), and Open University of Hong Kong (2006).
In 2000, all government-funded Higher diplomas from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Associate Degrees from City University of Hong Kong are also allocated under JUPAS. However, since 2005, the latter started converting all their government-funded Associate Degrees programmes to self-financed one, which are managed by a community college owned by the university. The government-funded Associate Degrees are expected to be cancelled in 2008, but this was pushed back to 2009 admissions. Instead, in 2009 admissions, the The Hong Kong Institute of Education has established their own Higher diploma programmes in JUPAS.[2][3]
As participation in Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination is required prior, or in the same academic year which the applicant apply for JUPAS, almost all JUPAS applicants are sitting for at least 1 subject in the HKALE that year. In addition, certain requirements in Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination are required in most programmes. Different requirements of HKALE and HKCEE are set in degree and sub-degree programmes. As JUPAS system uses the HKALE and HKCEE as a selection criteria, the HKHLE comes to its end after the introduction of JUPAS.
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Participating Institutes and courses
Currently, JUPAS applicants can apply for government-funded full-time degrees offered by:
- City University of Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Baptist University
- Lingnan University
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- The Hong Kong Institute of Education
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- The University of Hong Kong
and/or self-financed full-time degrees offered by:
and/or government-funded sub-degree programmes(higher diplomas or associate degrees) offered by:
- City University of Hong Kong
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- The Hong Kong Institute of Education
and/or any full-time programmes involving more than two JUPAS member institutes.
JUPAS applicants are not needed, and not allowed to apply any undergradurate programmes directly to the member institutions by their own. In such cases, JUPAS applications will always have the first priority and will void all other direct applications automanically. However, applications of programmes from non-JUPAS member institutes (like Shue Yan University or Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education), or community colleges owned by JUPAS institutes are not affacted. It is noted that non-Form 7 students who are not studying government-funded degrees may apply for JUPAS (as long as they (will) met the HKALE requirement), even they are studying non-degree programmes provided by JUPAS member institutes.
Application process
Applicants applying through JUPAS can select up to 25 choices of any program offered by the 9 local institutes via the online portal, provided that they satisfied the prerequisites. The application form is sub-divided into different bandings, namely Band A, B, C, D & E. Putting choices in different bands will affect the scoring of the applicants in the JUPAS process, therefore putting a program higher in their priority list will increase the chance of getting into a program in most cases. Theorically, the actual choice order, other than bandings, are not available to the admission related-person before the release of the admission results are released.
Selection process
Each and every program offered under JUPAS will make a "Merit order list" for all its applicants based on their academic performances, interview performances and extracurricular activities. The "Merit order list" and the applicants rank list are then entered into a match-making process. The process uses eliminations so that all applicants will only get into a program that they preferred most in their application form and which they qualify.
Note that most of the programs only look into the applicants' academic performance when they create their "Merit order list". In most of the cases both the results of the HKALE and HKCEE are taken into account. Although performance in HKALE is still the most important admission factor, some particular university do counts 40% or 50% or CE results in calculating student's academic performance rather than the usual 0-20%. As because of the cancellation of fine grades in both HKCEE and HKALE, HKCEE becomes a very decisive factors whether a student is admitted or not when he/she is close to the cutoff line since it is more difficult to compare student's performance with only 5 (passing) rank per subject.
In addition, some of the programmes weighs particular subjects more than usual. For example, Many commercial subject double counts, or even triple counts the results HKALE Use of English and HKCEE English in calculating admission scores.
The first round admission results are traditionally released on Wednesday before the week that the HKCEE results are announced, and the whole admission process proceed until late August, which can be only 1 week before some member institution commences their 1st semester in their academic year.
Difficulty
Mainly being affected by the high degree of difficulty of HKALE and the fixed quota of places in universities in recent years, JUPAS is considered as one of the most competitive university application schemes in the world, which media and scholars claim to be only second to the National Higher Education Entrance Examination of China. In 2007, more than 17,000 students met the minimum requirements to enter the degree programmes offered by JUPAS institutes (passing both language subjects, plus 2 AL equivalent subjects in HKALE) [4]. However, only about 11,500 applicants were selected to study for a degree at JUPAS institutes in that year[5], meaning about 35% of the qualified applicants ended up not being offered by degree programmes. Moreover, the number of degree programmes offered by JUPAS institutes decreased by 13% between 2002 and 2006 due to the switch from departmental to faculty based admissions, although it rose back slightly in 2007 and 2008 as a result from the addition of the OUHK's programmes.
In comparing estimated entrance rate between JUPAS and Direct Entry (from sub-degrees), JUPAS still turns out to significantly higher. Since JUPAS is open to students not already in full-time government-funded degree programmes, this has prompted some students studying for sub-degrees to retake certain subjects to improve their chances to get into government-funded degree programmes.
Sub-systems/Schemes
Apart from the main selection scheme and the EAS Scheme, JUPAS also offer a few sub-systems and schemes for candidates who may not do well academically but with proved qualities/needs in other areas.
Sub-system for Applicants with a Disability
Applicants with the following disability may apply through this scheme:
- Physical handicapped
- Hearing impairment
- Visual impairment
- Visceral disability
- Speech impairment
- Autism
- Mental illness
The goal of this sub-system is to allow applicants to find out as early as possible the special assistance and facilities institutions could provide to them on their admission. Applicants may receive separate offers through this sub-system.
Sub-system for School Principal's Nominations
Each principal of a local secondary school may nominate up to three students from his/her own school. Those students must be having outstanding achievements in non-academic areas such as sports, music, social services, other cultural activities, or who have demonstrated leadership abilities. The goal of this scheme is to encourage students to go beyond academic during their secondary studies.
Self Recommendation Scheme
This scheme is for applicants with outstanding achievements in extracurricular activities. Applicants who apply for this scheme in addition to the main scheme will be able to provide a portfolio of extracurricular activities to the institutes he/she applies, so that those institutes may also consider the applicants' achievements in other areas in addition to their academic achievements. The goal for this scheme is to encourage students to participate in more extracurricular activities during their secondary studies.
Footnotes
- ^ JUPAS Application Statistics provided by JUPAS, 30 June 2006, URL accessed 18 July 2008.
- ^ JUPAS Guide 2008, published by JUPAS
- ^ EMB's report towards the Funded Associate Degrees' in City University of Hong Kong.
- ^ HKALE Statistics 2007 provided by HKEAA, 29 June 2007, URL accessed 18 July, 2008
- ^ JUPAS Offer Statistics provided by JUPAS, 18 July 2006, URL accessed 18 July 2008.
See also
- Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination
- Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination
- Early Admissions Scheme
- Education in Hong Kong
- Higher education in Hong Kong
External links
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