The Hong Kong Polytechnic University — Frequently Asked Questions (Campus & Admissions): campus, admissions, services and alumni

Module: 00 Overview · Sub-file: FAQ Campus & Admissions (faq-campus-and-admissions) Following on from FAQ (Basics), this section covers operational and day-to-day questions: campus character, notable alumni, postgraduate programmes, halls of residence, scholarships, language of instruction, accessibility services, non-local student policies, the global exchange network, entrepreneurship support, Work-Integrated Education (WIE) and sustainability. Each answer cites its sources inline; full references appear under "Sources" at the end.

Every PolyU undergraduate must complete at least one semester of "Work-Integrated Education" before graduating — it is not an elective but a hard requirement written into the programme structure. Starting from that rule, this section answers the practical question "what is it actually like to study at PolyU?" one item at a time.

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# Q16. What makes the PolyU campus distinctive?

The main campus sits in Hung Hom, Kowloon, covering about 9.46–10.23 hectares^※. Its signature features include:

• Red-brick building cluster: more than 20 interconnected red-brick buildings, designed principally from around 1972 onwards by James Kinoshita of Palmer & Turner, described by ZOLIMA CITYMAG as "Hong Kong's underrated modern landmark".
• Jockey Club Innovation Tower: designed by the late, celebrated architect Zaha Hadid and completed in 2014^※, this is the home of the School of Design and one of Hong Kong's architectural landmarks. See Jockey Club Innovation Tower and Zaha Hadid.
• Pao Yue-kong Library: note that this library commemorates not Sir Run Run Shaw but the shipping magnate Sir Yue-kong Pao, whose donation led to the naming in December 1995^※. The library's predecessor, the Polytechnic Library, was founded in 1972 and moved to its present site in 1976; a sixth floor was added in 2022, contributing 2,080 square metres of collaborative study and quiet refurbishment space. According to official 2025 figures^※, the collection (including electronic resources) exceeds 10 million items — roughly 8 million e-books, over 255,000 e-journals and more than 450 databases — with about 99.9% of journals and 91% of books accessible online.
• The campus sits right next to the Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel exit, making it very accessible; it also contains numerous donor-named buildings (see Donor-Named Buildings) and distinctive geography (see Campus Geography).

See ../05-campus/ and Buildings and Landmarks.

# Q17. Who are PolyU's notable alumni?

Notable alumni span many fields, including:

• Politics: Li Qiang, Premier of China's State Council (Central University of Finance and Economics / PolyU); Leung Chun-ying, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Polytechnic);
• Film: Wong Kar-wai (director, studied in the PolyU design department), Raman Hui (director of DreamWorks' Shrek animated films), Donnie Yen (martial-arts star);
• Fashion: Vivienne Tam (Vivienne Tam, Higher Diploma in Design, 1978);
• Space engineering: Prof. Yung Kai-leung (Chair Professor of Precision Engineering at PolyU, developer of instruments for the Chang'e and Tianwen missions, and himself a PolyU alumnus).

For the full list of alumni, see ../06-people/.

# Q18. Does PolyU offer postgraduate and doctoral programmes?

Yes. The Graduate School offers taught postgraduate (TPg) and research postgraduate (MPhil/PhD) programmes across all seven faculties and three schools. Official figures put postgraduate enrolment at over 12,000 students^※. The Graduate School was established in 2020^※ to centrally manage postgraduate training across the University. In recent years, one-year taught master's places have expanded steadily and are a major route by which PolyU recruits non-local postgraduates; research degrees, meanwhile, are largely tied to the University's priority research areas (such as artificial intelligence, new energy, textiles and advanced manufacturing) and recruit against supervisors' funded projects. For postgraduate progression and career outcomes, see Graduate Outcomes.

# Q19. What are PolyU's halls of residence like, and what does "two stays in four years" mean?

PolyU operates two university-managed hall complexes:

• Hung Hom Halls: completed in 2002, accommodating about 3,000 students^※ across nine blocks (including two residential colleges).
• Homantin Halls: completed in 2012, providing around 1,650 places^※.

PolyU also plans a new hall complex in Kowloon Tong (about 1,680 places, expected to open in 2028), which should make "two stays in four years" achievable — that is, the chance to live in halls twice during a four-year undergraduate degree. Places in the two university-managed complexes are allocated on a "first-come, first-served plus priority points" basis: non-local students, athletes and students on leadership development schemes generally receive priority, while the number of places for local students is comparatively limited — one reason many local freshers end up renting off campus. For hall culture, the college system and related stories, see Halls and Residential Education and Module 10 ../10-colleges/.

Beyond the two university complexes, PolyU-affiliated Hong Kong Community College (HKCC) (part of the College of Professional and Continuing Education, CPCE) operates its own halls and teaching facilities at its Hung Hom Bay and West Kowloon campuses, serving sub-degree and higher-diploma students under separate management from the main campus. See the HKCC website^※ for details.

# Q20. What examinations are required for undergraduate admission to PolyU?

• Local students apply through JUPAS (the Joint University Programmes Admissions System)^※ with their HKDSE results; each programme sets its own entry requirements and may hold interviews. Local undergraduates pay HK$44,500 per year^※. For JUPAS admission details and Broad Discipline arrangements, see Undergraduate Admissions and the Broad Discipline Admission Scheme.
• Non-local students may apply through the Non-JUPAS route, on the strength of gaokao (mainland China's national university entrance exam) results, or directly to individual faculties; students from mainland China can also apply via the PolyU mainland gaokao admission channel. Tuition for non-local undergraduates is HK$175,000 per year^※.
• PolyU also runs a number of scholarship schemes, including the Emerging Global Leaders Scholarship, which offers full scholarships to outstanding international undergraduates. See ../02-admissions/ and Tuition and Scholarships for admissions and scholarships.

# Q21. What are PolyU's best-known internal scholarships?

PolyU offers a range of scholarship schemes:

The HKPFS was set up by the Research Grants Council (RGC) in 2009 as the flagship postgraduate scholarship shared by all eight UGC-funded universities; every PolyU faculty can nominate applicants, and competition is fierce — it is a key indicator of how internationalised PolyU's doctoral training has become. For tuition, scholarships and government-funded loans, see Tuition and Scholarships.

# Q22. Does PolyU provide services for students with disabilities or special learning needs?

Yes. PolyU operates the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD), which:

• arranges extended examination time, permission to record lectures and priority seating for students with visual, physical or mental-health challenges;
• provides services such as spoken- and sign-language interpretation;
• works with the Counselling and Wellness Section, which offers psychological counselling, stress-management and resilience workshops;
• supports an elevator and accessible-route system covering the main buildings (see Transport and Facilities);
• provides some learning materials in alternative formats (e.g. Braille, large print, audio) on application; arrangements such as separate examination rooms and extended writing time are approved by OSD on a case-by-case basis, not by a blanket standard.

PolyU's investment in accessibility reflects the social-responsibility orientation — "caring for the disadvantaged" — embedded in its motto "To learn and to apply, for the benefit of mankind" (开物成务), and is also how the University meets its compliance obligations under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance and its status as a public body.

# Q23. What language is used for teaching at PolyU?

• The vast majority of PolyU programmes are taught in English, in step with the other UGC-funded institutions in Hong Kong;
• Chinese and bilingual programmes: some humanities, social-science and China-studies courses are taught primarily in Putonghua or Cantonese, though English remains the norm for academic writing;
• Putonghua support: the Language Learning Centre offers Putonghua courses for students without a Cantonese background;
• Non-local students who need English-language support can also use the English writing tutorials offered by their faculties.

# Q24. Does PolyU offer undergraduate research opportunities?

Yes. PolyU runs several undergraduate research schemes:

• URIS (Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scheme): provides funding and supervisor support so that undergraduates can run independent research projects during the summer or within the semester, including opportunities to join space-mission research;
• Capstone Project: final-year projects in some engineering and science programmes take the form of independent research;
• Design Graduate Show: the School of Design presents students' work in an annual graduate exhibition;
• SHTM research internships: doctoral students in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management get the chance to work on leading international research projects.

# Q25. Is Work-Integrated Education (WIE) compulsory at PolyU?

Yes. Work-Integrated Education (WIE) is a core required component of PolyU's undergraduate curriculum:

• WIE can take the form of internships, corporate projects, service learning, industry site visits, and more;
• most PolyU undergraduate programmes require at least one semester or an equivalent number of hours of WIE;
• the list of approved WIE employers covers Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and overseas, maintained by individual academic departments;
• completing WIE is a graduation requirement and, in curricular terms, the most direct embodiment of the University's "learning and applying" (学以致用) motto.

See the PolyU WIE policy page and individual programme requirements for details.

# Q26. Has the cap on non-local admissions been raised, and what does that mean for PolyU?

The cap has been relaxed significantly. In the 2023 Policy Address, the Chief Executive set out the goal of building Hong Kong into an "international post-secondary education hub" and announced that the cap on non-local students at UGC-funded institutions would double from 20% to 40% starting in the 2024/25 academic year, according to the Legislative Council LCQ4 reply (20 November 2024)^※. The Education Bureau has stressed that 40% is a "ceiling", not a "target", and that each institution adjusts its actual intake according to its own capacity and teaching quality. Across the eight UGC-funded universities as a whole, non-local undergraduate admissions in 2024/25 already exceeded 17,000, roughly equivalent to 23% of local places (same source). PolyU, as one of the eight, is subject to the same policy, and growth in non-local students — particularly from mainland China and Southeast Asia — has been especially marked at taught-master's level in recent years. Self-financing post-secondary institutions (such as PolyU's HKCC/CPCE) have a separate 10–20% cap on non-local students, which does not apply to postgraduate programmes. Looking at the overall composition of the eight universities, about 73% of non-local students in 2023/24 came from mainland China, Macao and Taiwan, with the rest from other overseas places; PolyU's non-local mix broadly follows that pattern.

# Q27. How large is PolyU's global exchange network? Can students go on exchange?

Yes, and the network is substantial. According to Excel x Impact@PolyU, June 2025 issue^※, PolyU has partnerships with more than 360 overseas institutions across over 40 countries and regions, and has signed more than 600 academic collaboration agreements covering student exchange, joint research and double degrees. Undergraduates can generally spend a designated semester on exchange or study abroad at a partner institution, with fees and selection administered by the Global Engagement Office (GEO); the number of exchange places and the choice of institutions vary by department, with popular destinations including Europe, the Americas, Japan, South Korea and leading mainland Chinese universities. PolyU has also been using its Greater Bay Area and Mainland Translational Research Institutes (MTRIs) networks to promote cross-border internships and entrepreneurship exchanges for students.

# Q28. What are PolyU's highlights in international rankings?

PolyU's international rankings have climbed steadily in recent years:

• QS World University Rankings: 54th in 2026 (a record high), according to a PolyU press release (19 June 2025)^※;
• Times Higher Education (THE): 80th in 2026, according to a PolyU press release (9 October 2025)^※;
• Strong subject areas: optometry (world No. 1), hospitality and tourism management (among the world's top), textile science (world top 3), etc. (see e.g. ShanghaiRanking (ARWU) subject rankings^※);
• Latest QS by Subject 2026 figures: according to a PolyU press release (25 March 2026)^※, PolyU has five subjects in the global top 30 — Hospitality and Leisure Management (15th), Civil and Structural Engineering (18th), Nursing (18th), Architecture and Built Environment (21st) and Art and Design (24th) — and is ranked first in Hong Kong in four subjects: Hospitality and Leisure Management, Civil and Structural Engineering, Art and Design, and Environmental Science. A further 24 subjects are in the global top 100, covering fields such as data science and artificial intelligence, mechanical/aeronautical and manufacturing engineering, and materials science. Compared with the 2024 outcome of "five subjects in the global top 20", the 2026 round covers more subjects but with some individual placements slipping — a reflection of changes in QS methodology and the competitive landscape rather than evidence of an overall decline.

# Q29. How does PolyU approach sustainability?

PolyU operates a Green Campus Programme:

• it has committed to achieving carbon neutrality on campus by 2045 (with interim targets of 2028 and 2033);
• according to Pulse@PolyU^※, more than HK$10 million has been allocated to seven carbon-neutrality projects;
• all new infrastructure must meet the BEAM Plus Gold green building standard;
• a Carbon Neutrality Committee coordinates the roadmap;
• on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), PolyU's academic research and outreach activities are aligned with a number of SDGs.

# Q30. Does PolyU have its own teaching hotel?

Yes. Hotel ICON is PolyU's teaching and research hotel, located at 17 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and opened in September 2011^※. The hotel is backed academically by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM), with student interns working on the front line of service — a real business environment for SHTM students to train in. The hotel has won numerous international awards and is widely seen as a successful model of integrating a university with the hospitality industry. See the Hotel ICON website^※.

# Q31. How does PolyU relate to the other Hong Kong universities?

PolyU is one of Hong Kong's eight UGC-funded universities (the "Big Eight"), alongside HKU, CUHK, HKUST, CityU, HKBU, Lingnan and EdUHK:

• Joint student activities: the USFHK league is the most important student-exchange platform among the eight;
• Resource sharing: inter-library loan agreements and shared sports facilities;
• JUPAS system: the unified application platform for local students, on which the eight compete for cut-off scores and programme niches;
• Competition and collaboration coexist: the eight compete on rankings, funding and non-local student recruitment, while cooperating on joint research projects.

# Q32. What do PolyU's orientation and O-Camps look like?

Every August–September, PolyU departments and student organisations run Orientation Camps (O-Camps), in which senior students (colloquially known as "O-camp officers" / Ocamp 干事) introduce new students to the campus, their department and their peers. Activities include ice-breaking games, departmental briefings, campus tours and social events; some departments also run a Mentorship Scheme pairing senior students with freshers for advice on course selection and daily life. The official Student Affairs Office (SAO) also runs its own orientation activities (such as Orientation Week), running alongside the student-organised O-Camps. For the history of O-Camps, the "societies and cabinet" (庄务) culture and related controversies, see Module 22 (../22-orientation-ocamp/).

# Q33. How competitive are PolyU's sports teams?

PolyU student-athletes compete in the Hong Kong Federation of University Sports (USFHK) league against the other seven universities for championships across a range of sports. PolyU has traditionally been competitive in badminton, table tennis and taekwondo, and also fields teams in athletics, swimming, basketball and football, among others. Home facilities include the Shaw Sports Complex^※ and the Kwong On Jubilee Sports Centre, offering indoor and outdoor venues whose opening hours and bookings are administered by the Counselling and Wellness Section of the Student Affairs Office. Students can also gain additional admissions consideration for sporting achievements through the "Athlete Admission Scheme". For past results and team details, see Module 23 (../23-athletics-rivalry/).

# Q34. What specific entrepreneurship and innovation support does PolyU offer students?

The support system is fairly comprehensive, coordinated by the Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship Office (KTEO):

• Funding: the PolyU Maker Fund and the Micro Fund Scheme provide seed funding and matched investment for student start-up teams, with applications accepted in cohorts each academic year (see the official Micro Fund page^※);
• Competition platform: the PolyU International Future Challenge (IFC) is the flagship innovation-and-entrepreneurship competition. According to the official IFC 2026 page^※, the 2026 edition spans Hong Kong plus eight mainland China venues — Shenzhen Qianhai, Jinjiang, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hefei, Hangzhou and Wuxi — with a total prize pool of over HK$2 million, focused on five areas: life sciences and healthcare; advanced manufacturing and microelectronics; digital economy and fintech; smart cities and green living; and aerospace technology. The Hong Kong-leg champion can win up to HK$120,000;
• Cross-border incubation: through its network of Mainland Translational Research Institutes (MTRIs), PolyU helps teams access the Greater Bay Area and Yangtze River Delta markets;
• Entrepreneurship support links up with the URIS undergraduate research scheme and Capstone projects, letting students move from classroom projects to start-up teams.

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