Applying to PolyU via the mainland gaokao: independent admissions, English threshold and tiered scholarships

The short answer: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) does not participate in mainland China's centralised admissions system for gaokao applicants. It runs its own independent admissions scheme instead: applications for 2026 entry closed on 22 June, and students apply direct to the University from all 31 mainland provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. As of 9 September 2026, PolyU's website had yet to publish the online application period for 2027 entry. The hard numeric threshold is the gaokao English score: roughly 120 out of 150 and above.

In the days when gaokao results are released, parents of mainland applicants typically juggle two portals at once: the provincial examination authority's application system, and the online application back-ends of the Hong Kong universities. PolyU (香港理工大学) is firmly in the second camp. It does not appear in the mainland centralised admission sequence, does not occupy a place on the student's preference form, and yet it genuinely weighs the total gaokao score alongside the English subject result. This mechanism of "occupying nothing, admitting independently" means the route, timeline and the very logic of a "cut-off score" for mainland gaokao applicants are fundamentally different from applying to mainland universities.

This article focuses on the independent admissions route for mainland students sitting the current-year gaokao: how to apply, English and score thresholds, and the tiered scholarships and fees. 2026 entry applications closed on 22 June 2026, with classes starting on 31 August; the 2026 timeline is retained here for historical reference. As checked on 9 September 2026, PolyU had not yet published the online application schedule for 2027 entry. The structural details — independent admissions, no impact on centralised preferences, no provincial quotas across all 31 provinces, English threshold, and tiered scholarships — follow currently published information, but amounts and thresholds move year by year; always defer to PolyU's website for the current cycle. Last compiled: September 2026.

For a cross-comparison of PolyU's four undergraduate entry routes (JUPAS / Non-JUPAS international / mainland gaokao JEE / Joint Entrance Examination for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan students), the 8.5-point conversion system, and per-programme score profiles, see the companion piece "PolyU admissions scores: JUPAS DSE scoring, fully explained". This article goes deep on the mainland gaokao route alone.

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# Is PolyU's mainland admissions "independent" or "centralised"?

This is the first point mainland applicants routinely get wrong. For students sitting the current-year gaokao, PolyU runs independent admissions — not the centralised system through which provincial examination authorities process applications. According to PolyU's own "Application Procedures and Important Points to Note for Applicants of Mainland Gaokao^※" page, the official position is that "PolyU adopts independent admissions and will not affect students' applications to mainland universities." In other words, applying to PolyU and filling in mainland university preferences are mutually independent and can run in parallel.

Operationally, the difference comes down to three points. First, the entry point: applicants must go directly to PolyU's online application system to submit their application and gaokao results; there is no national programme code for PolyU to tick inside the provincial examination authority's system. Second, no effect on preference slots: per PolyU's position as relayed by an admissions portal, "PolyU is a Hong Kong university approved by the Ministry of Education to conduct independent admissions in mainland China, and does not occupy places in the mainland centralised application system" (per an admissions-portal relay^※). Even if PolyU makes an offer, as long as the student does not confirm registration, they can still be admitted to a mainland university through the centralised system. Third, the timing differs: PolyU assesses applications and issues offers on its own schedule after gaokao results are released, typically earlier than the mainland undergraduate batch admissions.

This contrasts with some other Hong Kong institutions. Per PolyU's website and publicly available mainland admissions materials, a number of Hong Kong universities (e.g. the mainland undergraduate schemes of CUHK and HKU) are folded into the mainland centralised early admission batch, where students fill in a national programme code and the provincial authority handles allocation; PolyU runs on "direct application + independent offer" instead. These are two different systems — do not mistake "getting into PolyU" for having used up a centralised quota.

In other words: there is no need — and indeed no way — to find PolyU in your provincial application system. Your gaokao score is simply being put to "another use"; PolyU is a slot outside your preference form, not one of its rows.

Institutional background: this route is not some back-channel PolyU invented for itself; it rests on explicit policy. Per PolyU's position as relayed by the admissions portal, PolyU is "a Hong Kong university approved by the Ministry of Education to conduct independent admissions in mainland China" (per the admissions-portal relay^※). The division of labour between Hong Kong and mainland admissions operates under arrangements between the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Hong Kong SAR Government, and PolyU falls into the category of universities that stay outside the mainland centralised system and assess applicants independently. For mainland candidates the practical meaning is that applying to PolyU is a zero-opportunity-cost parallel option: even if you submit an application or receive an offer, so long as you do not confirm registration at PolyU, your centralised preferences remain untouched. The genuine "choose one" moment arrives only after gaokao results are out, PolyU has made its offer, and the mainland undergraduate batch results are also clear — only then do you decide which offer to accept.

For this reason the PolyU application and the mainland preference form overlap heavily in calendar terms yet never interfere: exams in early-to-mid June, results uploaded to PolyU in late June, an offer from PolyU around the end of the month — all while provincial preference-filling and undergraduate batch admissions are running in parallel. Grasping this parallel rhythm is the first step in planning a mainland gaokao application to PolyU.

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# Which provinces can apply? Are there provincial quotas?

Coverage is nationwide. Per PolyU's mainland gaokao admissions page^※ and the application procedures page, and under the arrangements between the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Hong Kong SAR Government, current-year gaokao students from all 31 mainland provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions may apply.

The crucial point is the quota structure: per the same official pages, PolyU has "no fixed quota allocation for individual provinces or municipalities". This is the exact opposite of the mainland centralised logic of "university X releases N places in province Y". PolyU does not pre-slice its places into provincial quotas; it selects the strongest candidates from the national applicant pool. For applicants, the practical implication is that you are not walled in by a provincial cut-off line the way you would be under centralised admissions. PolyU weighs where you stand relative to the national applicant pool, not against a provincial cohort.

Precisely because there are no province-level plans, PolyU does not — and has nothing to — publish per-province "cut-off scores" or minimum admission scores. Which brings us to the question mainland applicants care about most, and where they are most easily misled: does a "PolyU cut-off score" actually exist?

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# So what is the "PolyU cut-off"? Why can't you find it officially?

The short answer: PolyU publishes neither provincial cut-off lines nor a single unified minimum admission score for mainland gaokao applicants. Nearly every online claim about "how far above the first-tier line you need to be for PolyU" comes from agents' or past applicants' estimates — not from any official line.

Official PolyU materials say only that applicants should have achieved "excellent results" in the current-year gaokao, and describe assessment as a holistic review rather than a single-score cut-off. A widely recycled rule of thumb, relayed by agencies citing the admissions brochure, is that the total gaokao score should sit above the province's first batch undergraduate admission control line (the 一本线), with the common folklore being roughly "120 points above the first-tier line for science" and "100 points above for arts" (per Goldner Consulting's relayed admissions guide^※ and Jinhong Gaokao's reproduction of the brochure^※). These figures are experience-based references, not official commitments; they swing enormously across provinces, subject combinations and programme popularity, and should never be treated as hard thresholds.

The underlying point worth spelling out: because PolyU has no provincial quotas and sits outside centralised allocation, a "cut-off score" is not an official quantity that exists. A centralised "investment line" is a natural by-product of the allocation process (slicing candidates from highest to lowest down to the quota); independent admissions has no such "slicing plan by province" step, so no provincial line can emerge. What applicants should actually watch is the gaokao English subject score — the one place where PolyU sets an explicit numeric threshold for mainland candidates.

A word of warning: the reason the online "PolyU cut-off scores" look so chaotic and change every year is precisely that they were never an official quantity. Agencies reverse-engineer them from the admission samples they happen to have handled; different samples, different programmes, different provinces yield different numbers. The "120 above for science / 100 above for arts" figures are merely the most-quoted set of experience values — not a PolyU-promised admission line. Treating them as hard criteria can actually mislead. The sounder approach: first make sure your gaokao English score clears the explicit threshold for your target programme, then push your total score as high as you can to stay competitive in a national selection pool — rather than staring at a "provincial line" that does not exist.

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# How many points do you need in gaokao English? PolyU's hardest numeric threshold

For mainland gaokao applicants, PolyU treats the gaokao English subject score as the core language requirement — IELTS and TOEFL are not the default expectation. Multiple relays of the admissions brochure describe the English requirement on a 150-point scale, tiered by faculty/programme (other scoring systems converted pro rata):

The tiered English scores above are cross-corroborated by several secondary sources, including Jinhong Gaokao's reproduction of PolyU's 2025 admissions brochure^※ and New Channel's summary of application requirements^※. PolyU's official brochure PDF is the primary source but is published as page images, which makes verbatim quotation impractical. Confidence: corroborated by multiple sources. The exact bands and conversion method always follow that year's official brochure.

Two points deserve emphasis. First, English plays a dual role of "threshold plus competitiveness": reaching roughly 120 only clears the language bar for general programmes. For popular programmes (accounting, finance, design, etc.) a high English score remains an advantage in competitive selection, and the common advice is to push to 130 or above to build a safety margin. Second, applicants whose gaokao foreign language is not English must submit additional proof: PolyU generally requires such applicants to provide evidence of English proficiency, commonly cited as IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) or TOEFL iBT 80 or equivalent (per Goldner Consulting's relay^※). This is broadly consistent with PolyU's English requirements for international and other-qualification applicants (see section 2 of the companion piece "PolyU admissions scores: JUPAS DSE scoring, fully explained").

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# Beyond scores: 3D holistic assessment, interviews and portfolios

PolyU does not run a "scores decide everything" system for mainland gaokao applicants. Alongside total score and English subject result, official and relayed materials refer to several non-academic assessment channels and supplementary schemes:

• 3D Holistic Assessment Entry Scheme (3D 综合评估): per the admissions-portal relay of PolyU's arrangements^※, PolyU operates a "3D holistic assessment" that offers interview-based evaluation to high achievers, in an early-bird round and a main round (for 2026 entry, roughly February for early-bird and May for main). It lets PolyU assess applicants' all-round qualities before gaokao results are even out.
• STARS Scheme: per relays of the brochure, aimed at applicants with outstanding track records in non-academic fields such as sport, the arts, leadership and STEM, offering an accelerated interview channel.
• Portfolios and programme interviews: per the application procedures page^※, some programmes require "a portfolio, additional documents, or an interview" for selection — School of Design programmes require a portfolio, and some programmes such as applied social sciences hold interviews.

In practical terms: applicants targeting design, architecture, communication and similar fields must prepare a portfolio and an English interview alongside their exam scores; high-fliers may find themselves "spotted" by the 3D assessment before results even land.

The division of labour between the three assessment tracks can be understood as follows. The 3D holistic assessment targets applicants whose gaokao results are not yet out but whose academic foundations are widely recognised — it moves the interview forward to before the exams (roughly February for the 2026 early-bird round, May for the main round), giving PolyU a chance to lock in candidates it wants before scores materialise. The STARS scheme is the non-academic excellence channel — applicants with serious credentials in sport, arts, leadership or STEM competitions can earn priority interviews, filling the blind spot of a scores-only review. Portfolios and programme interviews are a mandatory step for specific disciplines: a design school application without a portfolio barely gets off the ground, while applied social sciences and similar programmes use interviews to evaluate communication skills and motivation. The practical takeaway for mainland applicants: if you are aiming at design, creative or social-science directions, add two more columns to your revision calendar — "portfolio" and "English interview" — and note that both often start before the gaokao itself.

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# Application strategy: a two-front competition of programme popularity and English

No provincial cut-off lines does not mean "apply and you're in". Selection happens from a national pool, and the real competition runs on two fronts: the programme level and the English level.

Programme popularity varies enormously. Per agent relays of the brochure, competitive standards for popular directions such as accounting, finance and design run noticeably higher than for general programmes, with both total gaokao scores and English subject scores climbing accordingly. This mirrors the structure of PolyU's local JUPAS admissions — healthcare and parts of business and computing occupy the highest score bands, while humanities and social sciences sit relatively lower (see section 3 of the companion piece "PolyU admissions scores: JUPAS DSE scoring, fully explained" for per-programme local score profiles). A mainland applicant who charges at the single most popular programme may face competition no gentler than at a top mainland university.

English is the second watershed. Even with a qualifying total score, an English subject result below roughly 120 (out of 150) will struggle to clear the bar for general programmes; humanities and social sciences need about 125, law and veterinary medicine about 135 (per Jinhong Gaokao's reproduction of the brochure^※). For high-total candidates with weaker English, this threshold can bite harder than the overall score. The common advice therefore runs: if your target is a popular programme, push English to 130 or above to leave a cushion for the competitive review.

Language of instruction and fit. PolyU undergraduate teaching is predominantly in English; mainland entrants must read for their degrees and complete assignments in English from day one. The real substance of the English threshold is not simply "getting in" — it is "keeping up". That is why PolyU treats the gaokao English score as a hard criterion rather than a soft reference. Confidence: corroborated across multiple sources (programme popularity and English threshold bands); uncertain (the precise score ranges shift year to year and province to province).

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# Is the gaokao the only mainland route? Three kinds of mainland students, three tracks

A common confusion: among students with mainland household registration, it is whether you sat the gaokao that determines your route — not your registration status itself.

In other words, PolyU's independent admissions for mainland students maps to exactly one school system: "sat the mainland gaokao". Mainland students on international curricula take the international route and are assessed against thresholds such as IB 32 or A-Level 3B — they are not gaokao candidates and do not consume the route described in this article. (International thresholds are covered in the companion piece "PolyU admissions scores: JUPAS DSE scoring, fully explained".) Whether studying an international curriculum counts as "a shortcut around the gaokao" is a value judgement; this article makes no factual ruling on it.

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# When does 2027 entry application close? Does the 2026 timeline still apply?

The PolyU independent admissions calendar for mainland gaokao students runs on its own rhythm, offset from the mainland centralised schedule, and applicants must follow PolyU's clock. Applications for 2026 entry closed on 22 June 2026, and admitted students commenced study on 31 August 2026. Per PolyU's application procedures page^※, that cycle has now completed; the table below is retained for historical reference. As of the 9 September 2026 check, PolyU's mainland gaokao sections (including the mainland gaokao admissions page^※ and the application procedures page^※) still carried "[2026]" in their titles and listed "Sept 2026 Entry" programmes — no recruitment activities, opening or closing dates for 2027 entry had been published.

The timeline always follows PolyU's announcements for the relevant year. The 2026 entry timeline is now fixed as that cycle has completed; note the application deadline was extended from 11 June to 22 June. Extrapolating from that cycle's pattern — applications opening roughly eight months ahead, with the deadline hugging the gaokao — 2027 entry applications might open around October 2026. But that is a projection from past rhythm, not an official commitment; the actual dates must come from PolyU's mainland gaokao section when published. One further note: "uploading gaokao results" is the pivotal step in independent admissions — PolyU only sees your scores after you enter them yourself in the system within the set window. Miss that window and your application is as good as abandoned.

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# Tuition and payment: mainland gaokao students are self-funded non-local students

Mainland gaokao entrants to PolyU pay fees as self-funded non-local students — a different order of magnitude from the UGC-funded local rate. Per PolyU's tuition page for mainland gaokao students on government-funded programmes^※:

Tuition is quoted "per academic year" and rises annually: per PolyU's published fees, the non-local rate increased from HK$175,000 in 2025/26 to HK$200,000 in 2026/27. The placement deposit is paid upon confirming the offer, offsets the first tuition instalment, and is generally not refunded if you ultimately do not enrol. Accommodation, meals and personal expenses are separate; for the full financial picture of a mainland student, see the companion piece "PolyU tuition and scholarships overview".

Over four years, tuition alone runs into the hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars — which is precisely why PolyU pairs its fee schedule with a tiered scholarship system that ties the cost directly to gaokao ranking.

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# Scholarships: the higher your provincial rank, the more complete the waiver

PolyU maintains entrance scholarships for current-year mainland gaokao students that are awarded automatically from your application — no separate application needed — with the scale tied directly to gaokao performance and provincial ranking. Per relays of the admissions brochure, the main tiers run as follows:

The tiers above follow Jinhong Gaokao's reproduction of PolyU's admissions brochure^※ and Goldner Consulting's relay^※; PolyU's website similarly states that entrance scholarships may be worth "up to the equivalent of tuition for the normal duration of study plus a yearly living allowance". Allowance figures adjust year to year — different years' relays have cited HK$65,000, HK$66,000 or even HK$70,000 for the living/accommodation component, which is precisely the annual drift in action. Consult the official brochure for the year you apply. Confidence: corroborated across sources (mechanism); uncertain (the specific annual allowance amounts).

Two design logics behind the scholarships are worth spelling out. First, they anchor to "provincial rank", not absolute score: the full and full-tuition tiers lock onto each province's top 10 and top 50 respectively — a mechanism for capturing the "best candidates" province by province, rather than drawing one national line. This "slicing the top by province" approach is not in tension with having "no provincial quotas" for admission: admission is judged on national competitiveness, while scholarships use provincial rank to secure each province's very best. Second, renewal usually carries a GPA requirement: per the relays, most entrance scholarships require maintaining a specified GPA to be renewed year by year — they are not awarded once and forgotten; a drop in grades can cost you the waiver in later years. Beyond these, PolyU also offers mainland students exchange support and research scholarships (roughly HK$30,000 for exchange and up to HK$50,000 for research, per the relays), plus specialist awards in non-academic fields such as sport, arts, leadership and STEM (often linked to the STARS scheme). Names and amounts follow the scholarship office's announcements for the relevant year.

Reading the scholarship and tuition tables side by side, a mainland applicant's "true cost" hinges heavily on gaokao performance: the province's top 10 pay almost nothing (four years of full tuition plus annual living allowance), the top 50 get four years tuition-free and pay only for room and board, while those without an award fund themselves at roughly HK$200,000 a year. On the PolyU track, your gaokao rank decides not just "whether you get in" but directly "whether — and how much — you pay".

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# After the offer: deposit, visa and enrolment formalities

Receiving a PolyU offer is only the starting point. Mainland gaokao students face a chain of administrative steps between "offer received" and "actually enrolled", several with deadlines — missing one can cost you your place.

Step one: accept the offer and pay the placement deposit. Per PolyU's tuition page for mainland students^※, new students must confirm acceptance in the online system within the set period and pay the HK$20,000 placement deposit to secure their place. The deposit counts toward the first semester's tuition but is non-refundable and non-transferable. This step is also the key decision point between "PolyU or a mainland university": once you pay to confirm, you are ordinarily giving up the centralised mainland offer.

Step two: apply for a study visa to Hong Kong. Mainland residents travelling to Hong Kong for study must apply to the exit-and-entry administration of the public security authorities for a study endorsement, with PolyU issuing documents such as an admission certificate to support the application. Processing takes time, so leave enough before classes begin (31 August for 2026 entry).

Step three: registration and settling-in after arrival:

Among the procedures above, the visa and hall application matter most for mainland students: the visa determines whether you can legally enter Hong Kong to study, and halls determine where you land on arrival. Both carry deadlines — start on them as soon as you accept the offer. For a general checklist of enrolment registration and new-student matters, see section 8 of the companion piece "PolyU admissions scores: JUPAS DSE scoring, fully explained".

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# What does this "independent admissions" system actually mean for mainland applicants?

Assembling the pieces, three institutional features of PolyU's mainland admissions — no impact on centralised preferences, no provincial quotas, no published cut-off lines — all point to a single logic: PolyU treats mainland applicants as a national pool for autonomous selection, not as participants in the centralised game of "allocate places by province, invest candidates against a line".

This system lands differently depending on where you sit. For the very top candidates: independent admissions plus tiered scholarships amounts to a "zero-cost or near-zero-cost" offer for each province's top 10 and top 50 — PolyU's way of capturing a share of the best students outside the centralised early batch. For high-total, weaker-English candidates: no matter how strong your overall score, failing to clear roughly 120 in English (higher for popular programmes) stops you cold — the sharpest point of contrast with the scores-only centralised system. For upper-middle candidates: "no provincial quotas, no published cut-off lines" means no reassuring "clear the line and you're safe" guarantee; applying is closer to a holistic-assessment application than a tick-box allocation, and outcomes are less certain than under centralised admissions. For preference planning: because it occupies nothing and costs no opportunity, PolyU is effectively a "parallel backup" for every qualifying applicant — nothing lost by applying, choice deferred until the offer arrives.

Understanding these four situations is more useful than memorising some rumoured "cut-off". The core of the PolyU route is not a line but a combination rule: national competitive selection + an English hard threshold + rank-linked scholarships. The most practical preparation order for a mainland applicant: first fix the explicit gaokao English threshold for your target programme, then push the total score as high as possible to strengthen your position in the national pool, and meanwhile treat PolyU as a zero-occupancy parallel choice — applying costs you nothing against the centralised system, and only once the offers land do you make the final "PolyU or mainland university" call.

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# Common questions about applying to PolyU through mainland independent admissions

Q: Will applying to PolyU as a mainland gaokao student affect my mainland university preferences? A: No. Per PolyU's official statement, "PolyU adopts independent admissions and will not affect students' applications to mainland universities" — PolyU does not occupy a place in the mainland centralised system, so you can apply to mainland universities in parallel. As long as you have not confirmed registration at PolyU, you remain eligible for centralised admission to a mainland university.

Q: What is PolyU's cut-off score for mainland admissions? A: PolyU does not publish provincial cut-off lines or a unified minimum admission score. Online claims such as "120 points above the first-tier line" are agents'/past applicants' estimates, not official thresholds. The genuinely numeric requirements are the gaokao English subject score (roughly 120 out of 150 and above for general programmes, about 125 for humanities and social sciences, about 135 for law and veterinary medicine) and an "excellent" total gaokao score.

Q: Do I need to take IELTS or TOEFL for English? A: If your gaokao foreign language was English, your gaokao English subject score normally suffices (roughly 120 and above, varying by programme). Only if your gaokao foreign language was not English will you need to supply separate English evidence, such as IELTS (roughly 6.0 overall) or TOEFL (roughly 80). Exact requirements follow that year's official brochure.

Q: How are PolyU's mainland places allocated across provinces? A: There are no fixed provincial quotas. Current-year gaokao students from all 31 provinces can apply; PolyU selects on merit from the national applicant pool without pre-allocating provincial plans.

Q: When do I apply, and when is the deadline? A: For 2026 entry (now complete), online applications opened on 3 October 2025 and closed on 22 June 2026, with classes starting 31 August. As of 9 September 2026, PolyU's website had not yet published application dates for 2027 entry; extrapolating from the previous cycle, applications might open around October 2026, but that projection must not be the sole basis for your planning — check the website when it updates.

Q: Can a high score waive my tuition? A: Yes. The top 1–10 in your province's gaokao receive full tuition for four years plus a living allowance; the top 50 receive four years of full tuition. Other strong performers may qualify for entrance scholarships (up to the equivalent of tuition for the normal duration of study plus an annual living allowance). Allowance amounts adjust annually.

Q: If PolyU admits me, can I still go to a mainland university? A: Yes — as long as you have not confirmed registration by paying the placement deposit at PolyU. PolyU's independent admissions do not occupy centralised preferences, so you can hold a mainland centralised offer in parallel. The real "choose one" moment is when you pay the non-refundable HK$20,000 deposit to confirm your PolyU place — doing so usually means giving up the mainland offer.

Q: What paperwork and deadlines follow admission for a mainland gaokao student? A: After accepting the offer and paying the deposit, you must apply for a study endorsement for Hong Kong (processing takes time — complete it before classes start on 31 August), then after arrival complete enrolment registration, collect your student ID, apply for hall accommodation (non-local students generally receive priority), settle the tuition balance, and open a Hong Kong bank account. Both the visa and hall application carry deadlines — start them as soon as you accept the offer.

Q: For design or social science programmes, what besides scores do I need? A: School of Design programmes generally require a portfolio, and some programmes such as applied social sciences hold interviews. PolyU teaching is predominantly in English and interviews are usually conducted in English. High-fliers may also note the 3D holistic assessment held before the gaokao, and candidates with non-academic excellence can pursue the STARS scheme's accelerated interview channel.

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# See also

• PolyU admissions scores: JUPAS DSE scoring, fully explained — cross-comparison of the four undergraduate routes, the 8.5-point conversion system, weighted per-programme admission scores, and international/Non-JUPAS thresholds.
• Group admissions and "faculty-based" entry — optional majors, quotas and application strategy across the six broad-band bachelor's programmes.
• PolyU tuition and scholarships overview — local/non-local tuition trends, accommodation and miscellaneous fees, and the EGLS scholarship system.