Academic Information

Key Semester Dates

HKU uses the semester system, Semester 1 (September to December) and Semester 2 (Mid-Jan to May).
Students should visit Academic Advising and Scholarships Office's page for Important Academic Dates and plan for their studies in HKU.

Key Dates for Academic Year 2024-25

Student Exchange Period	Full Year
Student Exchange Period	Fall (Semester 1 / Full Year Intake)	Spring (Semester 2 Intake)
Accommodation Move-in on or after Date (Final announcement will be made by respective halls)	August 21, 2024	January 10, 2025
IAO Orientation	August 30, 2024	January 17, 2025 *
First Day of Teaching	September 2, 2024	January 20, 2025
Course Selection Period	August 20, 2024 (10:00 am) - August 26, 2024 (4:00 pm)	Not Available
Course Add/Drop Period	September 2, 2024 (10:00 am) - September 16, 2024 (4:00 pm)	January 20, 2025 (10:00 am) - February 10, 2025 (4:00 pm)
Reading Week	October 14, 2024 - October 19, 2024	March 10, 2025 - March 15, 2025
Last Day of Teaching	November 30, 2024	May 3, 2025
Revision Period	December 2, 2024 - December 6, 2024	May 5, 2025 - May 10, 2025
Assessment Period	December 7, 2024 - December 23, 2024	May 12, 2025 - May 27, 2025
Semester End Date	December 23, 2024	21 May 2024
Accommodation Move-out Date	By December 31, 2024	By May 30, 2025
Result Release Date	Late January *	Late June *
HKU Portal Account Closing Date	Around Mid February	Around Mid July
Transcript Release Date	February - March	July - August

* To be confirmed

Course Load

Students are required to take 24-30 credits (6 credits per course in general) for each semester.
50% of the course load must be chosen from one Faculty (your intended host faculty). It is optional for students to take the remaining credits from other faculties. Common Core courses will not count as part of the fulfilment of the 50% requirement of course enrolment for incoming students.
Students admitted to Faculty of Law can choose no more than 6 credits of non-law course (i.e. 1 course) in each semester.
Students may take up to two Common Core courses from a selective menu, each from a different Area of Inquiry - 'Scientific and Technological Literacy', 'Humanities', 'Global Issues' and 'China: Culture, State and Society'. The approval of course is on a case-by-case basis.
Approval on taking Common Core courses is on a first-come-first-served basis during the course selection period, and by auto-ballot during the add/drop period. More details are available here.

Course Information

All courses are taught in English, except courses offered by the School of Chinese.
The HKU credit system is based on the ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) model. A semester of study in HKU and in an ECTS-compliant institution will be considered as equal in credit value under normal circumstances. The actual credit transfer of courses will be subject to the policies and procedures of your home institution.
Students are recommended to check the course pre-requisites before selecting courses.
Taught master-level programmes are generally not offered to incoming students. If you wish to conduct research under a supervisor, please contact Faculties to make appropriate arrangements.
The approval of courses is on a case-by-case basis and subject to the Faculty's approval. Actual enrolment is subject to class availability, courses offered in the first semester, quota and class schedule. [The information is subject to change without prior notice]

Restricted Courses or Programmes

The following programmes/courses are NOT opened to incoming students:

Faculty of Dentistry
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
BSc (Exercise and Health) Programme
Most final year project courses provided by all faculties

Available Courses Offered by Faculties

The confirmed course list for each academic year will only be ready in early August. Please take reference from courses offered in the past academic year for your course study plan.

For further information about the syllabi of courses, please contact respective faculties/departments accordingly.

Faculties	Available Courses
Faculty of Architecture	Faculty of Architecture has extremely limited spots for accepting incoming students who have high academic grades. Students must meet any pre-requisites to be eligible for studio courses. Application to Faculty of Architecture would be considered on a case-by-case basis and subject to whether the Faculty is included in student exchange programme agreement between HKU and the partner institution. Students should check with their home institution before the application period for whether they are eligible to apply for the Faculty. Faculty of Architecture Course List 2023/24 Contact: faculty@arch.hku.hk
Faculty of Arts	School of Chinese includes all courses taught in English, except courses offered by Chinese History and Culture, Chinese Language and Literature and Translation which are taught in Chinese. School of English – English Studies School of Humanities includes Arts History / Comparative Literature / Gender Studies / General Linguistics / History / Music / Philosophy School of Modern Languages and Cultures includes African Studies / American Studies / Arabic / China Studies (Arts Stream) / European Studies / French / German / Italian / Japanese Studies / Korean Studies / Portuguese / Spanish / Swedish / Thai Centre of Buddhist Studies – Buddhist Studies Faculty of Arts Course List 2023/24 Contact: artssge@hku.hk
Faculty of Business and Economics (HKU Business School)	Courses offered by Faculty of Business and Economics (HKU Business School) are highly competitive. Students who are in their final year in particular, should note that course enrolment is NOT guaranteed. Students who apply to HKU Business School should have a grade level of B average / CGPA 3.0 / Satisfactory level. Students should have already completed the course prerequisites before requesting to enrol in courses with pre-requirements (Co-registration e.g. taking Microeconomics I and II together in a semester is not allowed). Economics and Finances courses highly emphasize mathematics. HKU Business School Course List 2024/25 IMPORTANT: Course code with * are only opened to students nominated under faculty-level agreement with HKU Business School**. Please check with your home university’s exchange coordinator on the agreement type before selecting these courses. Contact: fbe.ugexchange@hku.hk
Faculty of Education	Faculty of Education Course List 2024/25 Contact: edfacpo@hku.hk
Faculty of Engineering	Department of Civil Engineering Department of Computer Science Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Medical Engineering Programme (Biomedical Engineering) Faculty of Engineering Course List 2023/24 Contact: enggex@hku.hk
Faculty of Law	The minimum standard for admission for incoming students is a grade point average of 3.33 (which converts to the letter grade of B+) on a 4.3 scale. Applications with a slightly lower GPA will be considered only if justifications are provided. For students whose host faculty will be Faculty of Law, please refer to their website for detailed course list. Faculty of Law Course List 2023/24 Contact: laffairs@hku.hk
Faculty of Science	Department of Chemistry Department of Earth Science Department of Mathematics Department of Physics Department of Statistics & Actuarial Science School of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science Course List 2023/24 Contact: science@hku.hk
Faculty of Social Sciences	Faculty of Social Sciences Course List 2024/25 Contact: socii@hku.hk