Admission Info for Prospective Students

Yes, you simply have to submit a copy of your equivalent qualification(s), such as IELTS, TOEFL, GCE A-Levels, IB Diploma, etc., to the School Office (via this form: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aYpc9YyvM2uqBaC) for consideration two weeks before the course selection period.

Yes, you are free to choose advanced courses from the syllabus according to your interest. We encourage you to define your interest with an open mind, however, and not to focus too narrowly on a small number of courses or a particular specialization in English Studies. Our curriculum offers you various attractive concentrations in the major and in order to make most of the programme, you do well to balance your interests between different aspects of English Studies, so as to explore interesting connections. You are advised to consult the UG Coordinator or any teachers in the School regarding your study plan in the major.

Extended essay courses are primarily offered to outstanding final-year students enrolled in the Undergraduate Research Fellowship Programme (URFP) to pursue an advanced research project under the guidance of a supervisor. The Faculty of Arts will invite academically outstanding third-year students to join the URFP in the next academic year which offers them an opportunity to undertake research under the guidance of a supervisor.

The extended essay course can only be taken in conjunction with another advanced ENGL course, as part of a 12-credit combination. The School Office will contact the eligible candidates individually about the admission procedures. A remark on the URFP will be recorded on students’ academic transcripts upon completion of the requirements. For details on the URFP, please visit

http://arts.hku.hk/current-students/undergraduate/BA/URFP.

Yes, if the courses which you are going to take on exchange are comparable to the introductory or advanced courses listed in the relevant syllabuses. Please note that it is not necessary to do course mapping between HKU’s and your host institution’s courses. In other words, students may apply for credit transfer for courses which either exist or do not exist in HKU.

Under the Faculty cap policy on credit transfer, up to 50% of the transferred credits to HKU can be counted towards the declared Arts major/minor. Transferred credits in excess of the cap will be counted as free electives for the undergraduate degree programme.

Regarding the Faculty’s application procedures, students are required to:

(a) seek preliminary approval for credit transfer before their departure for exchange;
(b) confirm their finalized course enrolment for credit transfer during exchange; and
(c) provide a copy of the academic transcript to show they have passed the courses.

Please refer to the School’s and Faculty’s webpages for details on credit transfer:

School of English: https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Information_for_Outgoing_Exchange_Students

Faculty of Arts: https://arts.hku.hk/current-students/student-global-experience/study-abroad/credit-transfer

You have to successfully complete one introductory ENGL course from List A “Historical and theoretical foundations” (6 credits) as a prerequisite before you can declare a major or a minor in the School. If you complete the prerequisite in the first year, you can declare the major online during the course selection period at the beginning of the second year. A major consists of 13 courses (78 credits) and a minor consists of 6 courses (36 credits).

You have to take at least one introductory course from List A as a prerequisite in order to declare a major. It is best to take the prerequisite in the first year. You will have to complete 5 introductory courses (with at least 2 from each of List A and List B) in the first two years in order to fulfill the requirements of the major. And you have to complete 3 introductory courses (with at least one from each of List A and List B) before you can enrol in any advanced courses offered by the School of English.

Yes, we offer two majors and two minors (English Studies, Language and Communication) at undergraduate level, which you can combine according to your interest. Declaring either a double major or a major with a minor in two of our programmes will allow you to gain a deeper knowledge in different areas of English literature and linguistics and to strengthen your academic record, especially if you are interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in English.

No, double-counting of courses for fulfilling more than one major or minor is not allowed, as a University-wide policy. For example: “LCOM1001. Introduction to language and communication” is listed as an introductory course in the English Studies (ES), and Language and Communication (L&C) programmes. If a student majors in both ES and L&C, he/ she can only use LCOM1001 to fulfil EITHER the ES major requirement, OR L&C major requirement, but not both.

You are advised to consult the programmes concerned and see which replacement course(s) you are required to study if necessary, so that the total credits completed for each major or minor will not be reduced (e.g. 78 credits in ES and 78 credits in L&C). You may refer to the Degree Audit report on SIS for your progress with each declared major/minor. If there are discrepancies between the Degree Audit report and your actual study plans, please report to the Faculty Office (arts@hku.hk) for their follow-up with the Registry, so that the updated Degree Audit report will be reflected on SIS.