Entry tougher at HK universities

The Chinese mainland's College English Test, known as CET, will no longer be accepted by the two universities in 2015.

"Considering that most of the local and overseas universities do not accept CET6 for fulfilling the admission requirements of their postgraduate programs, and that the university also refers to international benchmarks when formulating its admission requirements, it decided to remove CET6 from the list of English tests accepted as fulfilling the English proficiency requirement for admission with effect from the 2015-16 academic year," the Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School said.

However, for the majority well-prepared mainland students, removing CET 6 as an admission requirement has not affected their applications.

Tao Yimei, a senior college student in Guangzhou, took IELTS as soon as she decided to apply for Hong Kong universities.

"I was applying for graduate schools in the UK as well, which all require to submit an IELTS score," she said, adding that having an IELTS score is also a plus in the job market. Tao has already received an offer from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

(China Daily 01/26/2015 page5)