Individuals who would like to become a registered student should fulfill the following registration requirements:
(a) They are aged 16 or above;
(b) They are of good character; and
(c) They have attained the academic qualification of Higher Diploma or Associate Degree at Hong Kong Qualifications Framework ("QF") Level 4 or above (or equivalent) from an institution recognised by the Institute.
Applicants should check the QF Level of their learning programme before applying for QP registration. More details could be obtained from the official website of the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework, and the Qualifications Register: https://www.hkqr.gov.hk.
Individuals who would like to become a registered student but cannot meet the academic qualification requirement will be accepted under the "Mature Student" entry route provided that they can fulfill the following conditions:
(a) They are over the age of 25;
(b) They have acquired a minimum of 5 years' relevant work experience; and
(c)They have met the minimum entry requirements for higher diploma/ associate degree programmes on HKDSE / HKALE (or equivalent).
No module exemption will be available to these mature students.
Yes, applicants may apply for exemption of the Associate Modules by virtue of subjects passed in prior study. Module exemption would be granted provided that the curriculum of the academic programme that the applicants studied demonstrates substantial achievement of the prescribed competence requirements and learning outcomes of the relevant Associate Modules. However, no exemption would be granted for the Professional Modules and the Capstone.
Subject to the institute's qualification assessment, completion of academic qualification of Higher Diploma or Advanced Diploma at QF Level 4 or above (or equivalent) from institutions recognised by the institute are eligible for exemption of the first five modules of the Associate Level (i.e. Modules 1 to 5) whilst completion of a recognised degree programme at QF Level 5 or above (or equivalent) would qualify for exemption of Modules 6 to 10 of the Associate Level.
Application for module exemption has to be submitted in one go. No subsequent application based on the same qualification(s) would be accepted.
Category of programmes
Maximum number of Associate Module exemption entitled
Degree
10
(Module 1 - Module 10)
Conversion Programme
Hong Kong Sub-degree
5
(Module 1-Module 5)
Exemption fees are charged since 9 September 2019.
Grandfathering arrangements are available whereby students of the institute's accredited degree or conversion programmes who commence their study in the academic year of 2017/18 or before are not required to pay any exemption fees when they enrol in the QP and claim module exemption within 5 years upon graduation from the accredited programme.
Students can make up the deficiency by either:
(a) passing the relevant Associate Module(s) (the QP Examination route); or
(b) taking the single subject(s) relevant to the non-exemptible module(s) in one or more of the Institute's accredited programmes (the Program Study route); or
(c) a combination of both (a) and (b).
Graduates of recognised degree programmes, irrespective of the number of module exemption they could get, can make up the deficiency by taking the relevant subjects in one or more of the Institute's accredited conversion or degree programmes. However, they may be required to complete a full accredited conversion programme if it is deemed necessary by the programme provider. They may apply for subject exemption in this case, but the approval is at the discretion of the programme provider.
Apart from the block exemption accorded to the programme accreditation, students of accredited degree programmes may claim further exemption by completing subjects in other accredited degree programmes offered within or outside their institutions which are relevant to the Associate Modules concerned. However, the granting of additional exemption is based on "individual assessment" of the subject(s) taken in the "other" accredited programmes. In this regard, students have to pay an extra exemption fee on top of the fee for the block exemption granted.
For subjects completed/ passed in recognised but not accredited degree programmes, the Institute would consider granting module exemption ONLY IF the student successfully completed the said programme. Subject passed in a recognised but incomplete academic qualification would not be considered for module exemption.
QP students removed from the student register due to the 10-year/ 5-year time bar rule could retain the module exemptions previously granted if they re-register in the QP within 2 years upon removal.
