Postgraduate Diploma in Education

Admissions Requirements

A candidate shall satisfy both the University Admissions Requirements and the Programme Specific Requirements as listed below.

All candidates shall:

1.  comply with the General Regulations  and the Regulations for Taught Postgraduate Curricula;

2.  hold a Bachelor’s degree of this University or a qualification of equivalent standard from this University or another comparable institution accepted for this purpose;

3.  normally be expected to have completed a substantial portion of their undergraduate studies in the major subject for which they wish to apply.

In addition,

4.  a part-time applicant shall normally be a serving teacher in Hong Kong schools with a minimum of one year of relevant teaching experience;

5.  a candidate who is seeking admission on the basis of a qualification from a university or comparable institution outside Hong Kong where the language of teaching and/or examination is not English, shall satisfy the University English language requirement as prescribed under General Regulation G2(b) having:

1. a score of 550 or above (paper-based test), or 80 or above (internet-based test) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) #; or
2. a minimum overall band of 6 with no subtest lower than 5.5 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) #; or
3. grade C or above either in the Overseas General Certificate of Education, the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, or the Cambridge Test of Proficiency in English Language.

6.      all candidates shall satisfy the examiners in a qualifying examination, if required.

Applications for exemption from the above requirements shall be considered on a case-by-case basis.

# For admission, only TOEFL/IELTS scores recorded in the two years before the date of application will be considered. TOEFL Home Edition or IELTS Online are not accepted.

Professional Practicum requirements for part-time applicants

Applicants who do not hold a teaching position may still apply for the part-time programme but may be given a lower priority for admission compared with applicants who have met the admissions requirements specified above.

If a conditional Offer of Admission is given to an applicant without a teaching position, the applicant may be required to submit evidence of having a suitable teaching context (e.g. a copy of the teaching contract or a supporting letter from the school principal) by June 30, 2025 before a confirmed Offer of Admission is given. Failing to fulfill the condition(s) of offer by the specified deadline may result in withdrawal of a conditional offer due to non-fulfillment of the admissions requirements.

If a confirmed Offer of Admission is given to an applicant without a teaching position, the applicant is required to make his/her own arrangement to present himself/herself for "supervised professional practicum" with a suitable teaching context throughout the two years of part-time study. The Professional Practicum requirements will be specified on the conditional Offer of Admission letter.

Notes for non-local students

Non-local students are students holding (a) a student visa/entry permit; (b) a visa/entry permit under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG); or (c) a dependent visa/entry permit who were 18 years old or above when they were issued with such visa/entry permit by the Director of Immigration. For details, please visit the HKSAR Immigration Department website.

Non-local students are required to obtain a student visa to study in the HKSAR with a local sponsor. All student visa applicants should request the HKU Admissions Office of the Registry to be their visa sponsor. Details on student visa application procedures can be viewed at https://www.studentvisa.hku.hk/. Please note that approximately 10 weeks should be allowed for visa processing. It is the responsibility of non-local students to make appropriate visa arrangement before they come to Hong Kong.

Application

Application deadline for September 2025 intake: 12 noon (GMT+8), December 4, 2024 (Wednesday). 

Application deadlines for September 2025 intake for the following Majors have been extended.

Deadline: December 30, 2024 (Monday) at 12:00 nn (GMT +8)

• English Language Education (English Primary) (part-time)
• Science Education (Major in Physics) (full-time and part-time)

Deadline: March 24, 2025 (Monday) at 12:00 nn (GMT +8)

• Early Childhood Education (full-time and part-time)
• Geography (full-time and part-time)

Your application with a fee of HK$300, which is non-refundable and non-transferable, should be submitted online at https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg/programme/postgraduate-diploma-education. Early submission is highly encouraged.

Please submit one application with a complete set of supporting documents for each Major applied for (Note: Different Majors and different study modes or study streams of the same Major are regarded as two programmes). Applicants are not allowed to transfer from the chosen Major subject, study mode or study stream of the chosen Major once an online application has been submitted.

Submission of Supporting Documents

After submission of an online application, you are required to upload your supporting documents by logging in on to the online application system by the application deadline or within four weeks from the date of creation of your account, whichever is earlier.

Please refer to the “Instructions for Submitting Supporting Documents” for details. Posting of documents is NOT required at the application stage. Should an applicant be considered for admission, he/she will receive an email notification from the Programme Office to submit the required documents. Please note that our request to submit documents does not necessarily mean that you will receive an offer of admission.

Applicants for the part-time PGDE programme should submit the appointment letter(s) or contract(s) for their current teaching position. It is optional but an advantage to submit a principal's recommendation form, which can be downloaded from the  “Instructions for Submitting Supporting Documents”.

Concurrent Registration

University Regulation G6 prohibits concurrent registration by a student for another post-secondary qualification either at this University or at another institution, unless approval of the Senate has been obtained in advance. A breach of this regulation may result in discontinuation of studies at this University. Students may be required to withdraw from or defer the other programme of study after acceptance of an Offer of Admission to the PGDE programme.

Subject Test / Interview

Details of subject test and/or interview arrangements will be sent to shortlisted applicants by email only (at least one day before the subject test or interview). The initial round of interviews for most of the Majors may be held during January 2025. Please check email frequently for confirmed arrangements nearer the dates.

Admission Decision

Successful applicants will be informed of their PGDE admission results by email, and will receive an official Offer of Admission letter enclosing a Notice of Admission statement.

Applicants are required to complete and return the Notice of Admission statement and pay the deposit to secure their place on the PGDE programme. The offer will automatically be withdrawn if the Notice of Admission statement and the deposit are not received by the deadline as stipulated in the Offer of Admission letter.

Applicants are not allowed to transfer from their Major subject, study mode or study stream after acceptance of an offer or during the course of study under any circumstances (e.g. a job situation change).

Applicants who do not hear from the Faculty of Education by June 30, 2025 may assume their application has been unsuccessful. No individual notifications will be sent to unsuccessful applicants.