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Alternative Qualifications in Chinese Language (ACL)

Applicants' User Guide

FAQ

Introduction

 

For Non-Chinese Speaking (NCS) JUPAS applicants, the 9 JUPAS participating-institutions and the SSSDP institutions (the Institutions) will accept and consider, for the purpose of satisfying their entrance requirements, the following alternative qualifications in Chinese Language (ACL) in lieu of the general Chinese Language requirement in the HKDSE Examination:

  1. HKDSE Examination Category B: Applied Learning Chinese (ApL(C));

  2. General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examination;

  3. General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Examination; and

  4. International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Examination.

Information on the ACL accepted by the Institutions, the minimum grade required, and any specific requirements of individual programmes are listed below:

Eligibility

 

NCS applicants (both school and non-school) pursuing local curriculum and participating in JUPAS must meet either of the following specified circumstances (eligible NCS applicants) before consideration will be given to their ACL attained:

  1. the applicants have learnt Chinese Language for less than 6 years while receiving primary and secondary education; or

  2. the applicants have learnt Chinese Language for 6 years or more in schools, but have been taught an adapted and simpler curriculum not normally applicable to the majority of students in local schools.

Applicants with ApL(C) results are regarded as fulfilling one of the above specified circumstances.

Eligible NCS applicants, regardless of whether they have obtained / will obtain HKDSE Examination Chinese Language results, can submit one or more of those listed as ACL.

Further information on procedures in relation to the certification of specified circumstances is available on the Education Bureau (EDB) website, or applicants may contact EDB at (852) 3540 7447.

Submission of Relevant Documents and Certification of Specified Circumstances

Eligible NCS School Applicants with ApL(C) Results Only

Submission

Eligible NCS school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT enter their ApL(C) results under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)" or indicate such results as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)" in their JUPAS accounts; and

  2. NEED NOT submit such results to the JUPAS Office.

To enable the JUPAS Office and the Institutions to obtain their ApL(C) results from the HKEAA, such applicants should ensure that the HKID card number which they have used to register their JUPAS accounts MUST BE IDENTICAL to those used to register for their HKDSE Examination at the HKEAA.

Verification and Certification

Eligible NCS school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT submit copies of their ApL(C) results to the JUPAS Office or their current schools for verification; and

  2. NEED NOT apply to their current schools for certification of their specified circumstances.

However, school principals or teachers who are authorised by school principals are required to confirm and submit such applicants' ACL via the JUPAS online application system on or before the deadline for verification and certification of 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm).

Eligible NCS School Applicants with GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination Results Only

Submission

Eligible NCS school applicants who wish to submit their GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results as ACL, are required to complete the information below via their JUPAS accounts on or before the submission deadline of 23 April 2025 (11:59 pm) by

  1. entering the highest subject level / score for their Chinese Language subjects in GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)"; AND

  2. indicating the qualifications concerned as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)".

Such applicants are reminded that in the consideration of the above examination results as ACL, the following will NOT be accepted:

  1. "equivalent" qualifications;

  2. qualifications not shown on the List of ACL;

  3. screenshots showing results from webpages / emails; and

  4. provisional results / statement of results.

Late submission of ACL will NOT be accepted after the deadline of 23 April 2025.

Verification and Certification

Eligible NCS school applicants who have indicated GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination Chinese Language results as their ACL should send to their current schools for verification of such results and certification of their specified circumstances.  They should

  1. submit the completed "Application for Certification of the Specified Circumstances" (Annex A) (available on the EDB website) to their schools.  They NEED NOT submit it to the JUPAS Office; and

  2. present original certificates with subject grades to their schools for verification.

Thereafter, school principals or teachers who are authorised by school principals are required to

  1. verify the Chinese Language results under GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations of their school applicants;

  2. certify the specified circumstances of their school applicants;

  3. upload copies of GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results, which MUST contain the subject grades their school applicants have attained; and

  4. confirm and submit their ACL

via the JUPAS online application system on or before the deadline for verification and certification of 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm).

Such applicants can log in to their JUPAS accounts to check the status of verification of ACL and certification of specified circumstances once the qualifications and the specified circumstances have been verified and certified respectively by their schools.

Please note that ACL without verification and certification of specified circumstances will NOT be considered by the Institutions.

Eligible NCS School Applicants with GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination AND ApL(C) Results

Submission

Eligible NCS school applicants who wish to submit their GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results as ACL, are required to complete the information below via their JUPAS accounts on or before the submission deadline of 23 April 2025 (11:59 pm) by

  1. entering the highest subject level / score for their Chinese Language subjects in GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)"; AND

  2. indicating the qualifications concerned as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)".

Such applicants are reminded that in the consideration of the above examination results as ACL, the following will NOT be accepted:

  1. "equivalent" qualifications;

  2. qualifications not shown on the List of ACL;

  3. screenshots showing results from webpages / emails; and

  4. provisional results / statement of results.

Late submission of ACL will NOT be accepted after the deadline of 23 April 2025.

Eligible NCS school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT enter their ApL(C) results under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)" or indicate such results as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)" in their JUPAS accounts; and

  2. NEED NOT submit such results to the JUPAS Office.

To enable the JUPAS Office and the Institutions to obtain their ApL(C) results from the HKEAA, such applicants should ensure that the HKID card number which they have used to register their JUPAS accounts MUST BE IDENTICAL to those used to register for their HKDSE Examination at the HKEAA.

Verification and Certification

Eligible NCS school applicants who have indicated GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination Chinese Language results as their ACL should apply to their current schools for verification of such results.  They should

  1. present original certificates with subject grades to their schools for verification.

School principals or teachers who are authorised by school principals are required to

  1. verify the Chinese Language results under GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations of their school applicants;

  2. upload copies of GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results, which MUST contain the subject grades their school applicants have attained; and

  3. confirm and submit their ACL (both GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination and ApL(C) results)

via the JUPAS online application system on or before the deadline for verification and certification of 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm).

Such applicants can log in to their JUPAS accounts to check the updated status of verification of ACL once the qualifications have been verified by their schools.

Please note that ACL without verification will NOT be considered by the Institutions.

Eligible NCS school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at HKEAA

1. NEED NOT submit copies of their ApL(C) results to the JUPAS Office or their current schools for verification; and

2. NEED NOT apply to their current schools for certification of their specified circumstances.

Eligible NCS Non-school Applicants with ApL(C) Results Only

Submission

Eligible NCS non-school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT enter their ApL(C) results under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)" or indicate such results as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)" in their JUPAS accounts; and

  2. NEED NOT submit such results to the JUPAS Office.

To enable the JUPAS Office and the Institutions to obtain their ApL(C) results from the HKEAA, such applicants should ensure that the HKID card number which they have used to register their JUPAS accounts MUST BE IDENTICAL to those used to register for their HKDSE Examination at the HKEAA.

Verification and Certification

Eligible NCS non-school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT submit copies of their ApL(C) results to the JUPAS Office for verification;

  2. NEED NOT apply to their last schools attended for certification of their specified circumstances; and

  3. NEED NOT complete and submit "Proforma on School Principal's Certification of Specified Circumstances" (Annex C) (available on the EDB website) to the JUPAS Office.

Eligible NCS Non-school Applicants with GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination Results Only

Submission

Eligible NCS non-school applicants who wish to submit their GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results as ACL, are required to complete the information below via their JUPAS accounts on or before the submission deadline of 23 April 2025 (11:59 pm) by

  1. entering the highest subject level / score for their Chinese Language subjects in GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)"; AND

  2. indicating the qualifications concerned as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)".

Such applicants are reminded that in the consideration of the above examination results as ACL, the following will NOT be accepted:

  1. "equivalent" qualifications;

  2. qualifications not shown on the List of ACL;

  3. screenshots showing results from webpages / emails; and

  4. provisional results / statement of results.

Late submission of ACL will NOT be accepted after the deadline of 23 April 2025.

Verification and Certification

Eligible NCS non-school applicants who have indicated GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination Chinese Language results as their ACL should approach their last schools attended for certification of their specified circumstances.  They should

  1. submit the completed "Application for Certification of the Specified Circumstances" (Annex A) (available on the EDB website) to their last schools attended.  They NEED NOT submit it to the JUPAS Office; and

  2. obtain "School Reference Letter" (Annex B) (available on the EDB website).  They NEED NOT submit it to the JUPAS Office.  School principals may require the applicants to provide other documents such as student report cards showing the history of schooling to facilitate their certification.

School principals are required to

  1. certify the specified circumstances of the non-school applicants by completing "Proforma on School Principal's Certification of Specified Circumstances" (Annex C) (available on the EDB website); and

  2. return the completed Annex C to the non-school applicants for submission to the JUPAS Office.

Such applicants are required to submit the completed Annex C AND the copies of the certificates of GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results, which MUST contain the subject grades they have attained, to the JUPAS Office by email in PDF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format only as email attachment to info@jupas.edu.hk via their email accounts registered in the JUPAS online application system on or before 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm).  The JUPAS Office will NOT view and / or download any files via external drives or online file transfer sites.

To facilitate the verification process, applicants should state their application numbers in the email subject line and at the upper right corner on their copies of supporting documents.  

The JUPAS Office will regard the received timestamp on the email as the date of submission.  Late submission will NOT be accepted. 

Applicants who have submitted supporting documents to the JUPAS Office will first receive an auto-reply of JUPAS Office#^.  The acknowledgement / follow-up emails#^ will be sent to the applicants upon processing the verification and certification in 2 working days.  They can then log in to their JUPAS accounts to check the status of verification of ACL and certification of specified circumstances after receiving the acknowledgement emails#^.

Applicants are reminded that they SHOULD NOT send the original documents by post to the JUPAS Office to avoid them being lost in the mail.  The JUPAS Office will not be liable for any loss or damage of any postal items.

Please note that ACL without verification and certification of specified circumstances will NOT be considered by the Institutions.

Eligible NCS Non-school Applicants with GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination AND ApL(C) Results

Submission

Eligible NCS non-school applicants who wish to submit their GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results as ACL, are required to complete the information below via their JUPAS accounts on or before the submission deadline of 23 April 2025 (11:59 pm) by

  1. entering the highest subject level / score for their Chinese Language subjects in GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)"; AND

  2. indicating the qualifications concerned as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)".

Such applicants are reminded that in the consideration of the above examination results as ACL, the following will NOT be accepted:

  1. "equivalent" qualifications;

  2. qualifications not shown on the List of ACL;

  3. screenshots showing results from webpages / emails; and

  4. provisional results / statement of results.

Late submission of ACL will NOT be accepted after the deadline of 23 April 2025.

Eligible NCS non-school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT enter their ApL(C) results under "Other Academic Results (Language Subjects)" or indicate such results as ACL under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)" in their JUPAS accounts; and

  2. NEED NOT submit such results to the JUPAS Office.

To enable the JUPAS Office and the Institutions to obtain their ApL(C) results from the HKEAA, such applicants should ensure that the HKID card number which they have used to register their JUPAS accounts MUST BE IDENTICAL to those used to register for their HKDSE Examination at the HKEAA.

Verification and Certification

Eligible NCS non-school applicants who have indicated GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examinations Chinese Language results as their ACL have to submit the copies of the certificates, which MUST contain the subject grades they have attained, to the JUPAS Office by email in PDF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format only as email attachment to info@jupas.edu.hk via their email accounts registered in the JUPAS online application system on or before 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm).  The JUPAS Office will NOT view and / or download any files via external drives or online file transfer sites.

To facilitate the verification process, applicants should state their application numbers in the email subject line and at the upper right corner on their copies of certificates.

The JUPAS Office will regard the received timestamp on email as the date of submission.  Late submission will NOT be accepted. 

Applicants who have submitted the copies of the certificates to the JUPAS Office will first receive an auto-reply of JUPAS Office#^.  The acknowledgement / follow-up emails#^ will be sent to the applicants upon processing the verification in 2 working days.  They can then log in to their JUPAS accounts to check the status of verification of ACL after receiving the acknowledgement emails#^.

Applicants are reminded that they SHOULD NOT send the original documents by post to the JUPAS Office to avoid them being lost in the mail.  The JUPAS Office will not be liable for any loss or damage of any postal items.

Please note that ACL without verification will NOT be considered by the Institutions.

Eligible NCS non-school applicants with ApL(C) results registered at the HKEAA

  1. NEED NOT submit copies of their ApL(C) results to the JUPAS Office for verification;

  2. NEED NOT apply to their last schools attended for certification of their specified circumstances; and

  3. NEED NOT complete and submit "Proforma on School Principal's Certification of Specified Circumstances" (Annex C) (available on the EDB website) to the JUPAS Office.

Points to Note

 

The JUPAS Office recommends eligible NCS applicants who has already obtained their ACL results to submit their information via JUPAS Online application system at their earliest convenience so as to allow ample time for their schools (school applicants) / the JUPAS Office for verification and certification.   

Eligible NCS applicants who wish to submit their GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results as ACL for consideration by the Institutions for admission in 2025 are reminded that if they take the GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination (May / June 2025 Summer Series) in the same admissions exercise (2024 – 2025), they will NOT be able to meet the JUPAS's deadlines of 23 April 2025 (11:59 pm) for the submission and 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm) for the verification and certification of these ACL for this admissions exercise.

Should there be any discrepancies between the information entered by the applicants and the information stated in the copies of the certificates, the latter (i.e. information stated in the copies of the certificates) shall prevail.  The JUPAS Office will amend the GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results according to the information stated in the uploaded / submitted copies of the certificates without further notice.  Applicants can log in to their JUPAS accounts to check the amended information, if any, after all the certificates are verified by the JUPAS Office.

If applicants' specified circumstances are not certified (if applicable) and / or copies of the certificates of the GCE / GCSE / IGCSE Examination results are not received by the JUPAS Office on or before the deadline of 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm), their ACL will NOT be taken into consideration by the Institutions.  In the above case, the applicants' ACL indicated under "Alternative Qualification(s) in Chinese Language (ACL)" will be deleted from their JUPAS accounts after the deadline of 30 April 2025 (11:59 pm).

The final decision on admission will be subject to the authenticity of the qualifications as listed in the applications of the applicants.  Applicants may be requested to present the original copies of the supporting documents.  If they fail to do so, the JUPAS applications of these applicants may be disqualified, or the Institutions may withdraw or amend their offers, or cancel their registration / enrolment, or terminate the studies of those applicants.

List of ACL

Download PDF

# As email is one of the channels that the JUPAS Office, the 9 JUPAS participating-institutions and the SSSDP institutions will use to contact applicants, applicants must ensure that the setting of their personal email accounts will not filter out or place such correspondence in the trash / junk / spam folders.

^ Emails and SMS are delivered via third party network providers and therefore the JUPAS Office is not responsible for any delay, loss, transfer, amendment or damage arising from the transmission process via third party network providers.

Should there be any discrepancies between information contained in emails and SMS and applicants' JUPAS accounts, the information contained in the latter (i.e. the JUPAS accounts) shall prevail.

Applicants are strongly advised to log in to their JUPAS accounts to double-check the related information.

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