PE streaks ahead as most popular course for school graduates

Marcus Lum

Physical education has become the most popular course among Hong Kong secondary school graduates next school year, with 42 of them competing for one place at the Education University of Hong Kong.

The Chinese University and the Baptist University also saw more than 30 students vying for one spot in physical education course.

Education University's history course, which opens every other year, has more than 40 students competing for one place.

Medical and nursing-related courses are also popular. The nursing courses offered by HKU, CUHK and the Polytechnic University each have more than a thousand students placed in Band A, meaning they are more likely to apply for the major.

The medicine and surgery courses offered by HKU and CUHK each carry 295 places, with 1,010 and 993 students applying for HKU and CUHK admission, respectively, meaning more than three students will be competing for a place.

Other popular courses include business administration at CUHK, which attracted more than 2,200 students vying for 222 places, and engineering courses at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, with over 1,500 students competing for 532 places.

Student guidance consultant from Hok Yau Club Clement Ng Po-shing said the trend is obvious as it is easy for sports talents to find a job in recent years.

"Many graduates choose to develop their careers in sports science or sports and recreation management, they are no longer limited to being athletes or physical education teachers," Ng said.

The recent success of Hong Kong athletes in international competitions has also boosted the students' confidence in joining the sports industry and applying to sports-related courses, Ng said.

Meanwhile, the City University had more than 30 people competing for a spot in the social and behavioral sciences course, as Ng said students believe it has better career prospects.

"Students could opt to study criminology and sociology in this course, coinciding with the shortage of manpower in Hong Kong's disciplined services, the course could attract students who want to join management positions such as police inspectors," he said.

Meanwhile, 18 self-financing post-secondary institutions have recorded an increase in admissions, with Hong Kong Metropolitan University receiving 1,200 more students than average.