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FAQs

1 Question How is the employment situation of social workers?
  Ans Most of our graduates secure social work posts in NGOs or the Social Welfare Department. Some of them choose to work as a medical social worker managed by the Hospital Authority. Our Departmental Graduate Survey indicates that a majority of our graduates have chosen to work with children and young people in their first year of employment.
     
2 Question What is the prospect of being a social worker?
  Ans Students are expected to equip themselves with essential social work knowledge, values and skills in meeting increasingly complex social problems. Social work training enables our students to meet people from different walks of life and be given a wider exposure to different facets of society. Most of our graduates can find social work posts or other human service related jobs. The basic salary of social work posts offered by NGOs and the Government is within the medium range for a university graduate. Some of them choose to become financial planners, police officers, teachers or civil servants. Some are very devoted to serving people in need and will become senior practitioners or leaders in the field of social work in Hong Kong. Others choose to work overseas like Singapore, India or in the Mainland.
     
3 Question What are the selection criteria for JUPAS interview?
  Ans We offer interview based on the results of the HKCEE. Priority is given to those who put our programme in Band A. We can only afford to interview about 200-300 applicants each year.
     
4 Question What is the weighting of the interview?
  Ans We would add score to those who perform well at the interview. However, the exact weight is not allowed to be disclosed. What is certain is that the examination results of the A-Level carry most weight.
     
5 Question Would those who do not get interview have chance of being admitted to the BSW programme?
  Ans We will conduct a second round interview for those who re-prioritize our programme into Band A after the release of A-Level examination results. By doing so, this will give you a chance of upgrading your position in our priority/recommended list for admission.
     
6 Question How would repeaters be considered?
  Ans They would be considered the same as other current JUPAS applicants.
     
7 Question Does putting BSW program as 1st choice in the application have any positive effect in the selection process?
  Ans Yes, the first choice always goes through the computer selection first. There cannot be any manual adjustment because no university staff members would know the exact position of the choice within each band. Priority is given to Band A applicants. It is important to note that whether you put the programme in Band A does matter in relation to the chance of being admitted to the BSW programme.
     
8 Question How would applicants with Principal's nomination be considered?
  Ans We usually do not interview these applicants. But we would read through the Principal's recommendation carefully and decide if we would give conditional offer, add extra score, or give no special consideration to the applicants. Being active in service and school activities would be a credit.
     
9 Question Can a BSW student take a second MINOR in other disciplines?
  Ans BSW students could take a minor in other disciplines in the Social Sciences Faculty (such as psychology, sociology, political sciences, criminal justice and most multi-disciplinary major/minor). But students have to work hard and plan well since it requires taking more credits than the minimum (180 credits) credits for graduation.
     
10 Question What A-Level Exam results will have a better chance of getting into the BSW programme?
  Ans This always depends on the results of the other candidates who apply for the BSW programme. However, in the recent years, if you have an average grade of ‘B’ or ‘C’ in 2AL+1AS subjects (in addition to these subjects, you should have at least a grade ‘D’ in AS Use of English, and a ‘E’ in AS Chinese Language and Culture), you are likely to be admitted to the BSW programme.
11 Question How does HKU BSW programme compare with other social work programmes offered by other universities?
  Ans
  1. The Top - HKU has been ranked 24th amongst the top 200 universities globally by the Times Higher Education – Quacquarelli Symonds (THE-QS) World University Rankings in the year 2010. HKUST is the next one but it does not have a social work program.
  2.  The Largest Pool of Alumni - Our social work programme has one of the longest tradition. We celebrated our 60th anniversary in 2010. We have a strong and extensive network of HKU alumni in the social welfare field. The HKU family always supports alumni.
  3. 3. Innovative Teaching Initiatives – We are the first to have a project-based skills laboratory training and problem based learning approach. We have the largest number of China and overseas placement (such as New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, India, England and the United States).
12 Question Will there be any advance standing for Associate Degree holders?
  Ans NO