The University of Hong Kong’s faculty of medicine said on Monday it has already filled a sixth of its undergraduate programme enrolment quota for the upcoming academic year ahead of Wednesday's release of Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) examination results.

The 57 students received unconditional offers through different schemes, namely the School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme (SNDAS) and IB Diploma programme.

It said 31 students were from the SNDAS – a programme rolled out by the Education Bureau in the 2022-23 academic year.

This was up from 21 and 24 students in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

“This is the third year that we have SNDAS students reading medicine,” said assistant dean Kenny Kwan.

"Through the experience of the past two years, we are able to understand more about the criteria [that we need to set] for students being recommended by their schools and principals.

“We have more confidence that these students can excel in our medical school programme.

"Through that we are able to increase the number of candidates."

Kwan said one of them was from Minxin School in Guangzhou – which participated in the DSE examination for the first time.

The faculty also said all 25 spots have been filled in its second-degree programme, which allows students to complete their studies in four years.

It said more than 950 applications were received, with almost 80 percent of the applicants having a biomedical sciences-related background.

Kwan said the programme is very attractive for both overseas and local students.

“This is a shorter programme – four years for them to finish the medical degree – and also gives them a second chance to pursue medicine, as some school leavers at that stage may not have made up their minds,” he said.

“So this provides them with a valuable route if they want to study medicine and become doctors.”