School Principal’s Nominations and multiple entry routes — the non‑score dimensions of CityU’s local admissions

Not every student admitted to CityU got there by competing on weighted HKDSE scores. A swimmer at provincial‑team level, a secondary‑school student who has taken Hong Kong‑wide mathematics Olympiad prizes three years running, a student union president whom the principal considers to display “outstanding leadership” — each of them holds an entry ticket that bypasses the aggregate‑score contest. CityU offers four such non‑score admission pathways for 2026 entry:the JUPAS School Principal’s Nominations (SPN)^※ recognises achievements in sport, music and leadership and can issue conditional offers before DSE results are released;the SNDAS Direct Admission Scheme^※, co‑ordinated by the Education Bureau, grants firm offers to Secondary 6 students with exceptional talent — 54 CityU programmes are participating for 2026 entry; athletes may enter through CityU’s own SAAS or the UGC‑administered SALSA mechanism, gaining admission to 40‑plus programmes with no minimum academic threshold; andOEA^※ allows every JUPAS applicant to submit up to 10 supplementary records of competitions or activities for consideration.

Unless noted otherwise, the data in this article refer to 2026 entry. For the standard JUPAS scoring method, see undergraduate-admissions.md; for mainland‑China and international admission, see nonlocal-mainland-international.md.

# How do the four pathways differ? A one‑table overview

The four pathways described below are all formal arrangements that operate within the JUPAS framework or are endorsed by the Education Bureau. Admitted students are excluded from the regular JUPAS weighted admission score statistics (as footnoted inthe official CityU scoring document^※).

# SPN: what kind of student gets a principal’s nomination?

The JUPAS School Principal’s Nominations (SPN) scheme^※ operates across all nine publicly funded universities in Hong Kong, including CityU. Its aim is “to recognise students with outstanding performance in non‑academic areas.” The scheme covers several categories — sport, music, creative activities, other cultural pursuits, community service, and leadership — according to the JUPAS official description. Both current‑year and previous‑year secondary‑school leavers may apply; previous‑year leavers must contact the principal of the school they attended for nomination.

The key SPN timeline for 2026 entry (per theJUPAS SPN official page^※) is as follows: the nomination‑submission deadline is 5 p.m. on 11 May 2026; universities consider each applicant’s then‑current Band A programme choices (to be confirmed by 5 p.m. on 27 May 2026); feedback is released on 10 July 2026; the final result is announced together with the main JUPAS offer round on 8 August 2026. CityU reviews each nominated student’s Band A programme choices individually. The outcome may be a conditional offer (firm or with conditions), a score bonus, or no special consideration — a nomination in itself does not guarantee admission (as per the JUPAS official explanation). It is also worth noting that a SPN conditional offer may be withdrawn if the applicant subsequently moves that choice out of Band A or fails to meet the stated conditions.

# SNDAS: how do “firm offers” and the two‑per‑school quota work?

The School Nominations Direct Admission Scheme (SNDAS)^※, co‑ordinated by the Education Bureau, was launched in the 2022/23 academic year. It is designed to identify student talents that “cannot be comprehensively assessed through the HKDSE alone.” All eight UGC‑funded universities take part, together offering over 300 government‑funded undergraduate programmes. For 2026 entry, CityU has54 programmes participating in SNDAS^※ (as listed on the CityU Admissions Office website, 2026‑entry data).

The nomination structure for SNDAS is: each local secondary school is allotted two nomination places, and the principal may nominate one Secondary‑6 student per place who displays outstanding talent and interest in a particular discipline or field. Each nominated student may apply for only one designated JUPAS government‑funded undergraduate programme. Successful applicants receive a firm offer in June, before the release of DSE results — this is a substantive offer without DSE‑score conditions (per theEducation Bureau SNDAS official page^※). Actual data from the fourth cohort (2025 entry) show that420 secondary schools submitted a total of 814 valid nominations; 342 students received firm offers, of whom 335 eventually accepted^※ (Government Information Services, July 2025).

The nomination period for the fifth (2026‑entry) SNDAS round ran from 9 October to 3 December 2025. A new feature is the Multi‑talent Development Scholarship: funded by the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries, it selects SNDAS admittees who have excelled in the arts, sports and / or community service; each awardee receivesHK$10,000 per year, tenable for four years^※ (as per the Youth Development Commission website).

Which disciplines do the 54 CityU SNDAS programmes cover? For 2026 entry CityU has 54 programmes in SNDAS^※ (CityU Admissions Office website), spanning seven colleges and encompassing science and engineering, business, the humanities, law, creative media, veterinary medicine and other fields. SNDAS assesses “outstanding talent and interest in a specific discipline or area” — which means different programmes look for different strengths: creative‑media programmes value creative potential; engineering programmes may prize Olympiad maths or science‑competition results; arts and humanities programmes emphasise cultural and creative accomplishments. Students should consult the CityU Admissions Office about requirements for the specific programme they are interested in, or refer to the SNDAS programme list on the Education Bureau’s dedicated page.

# Athletes applying to CityU: what is the difference between SAAS and SALSA?

CityU operates two parallel entry mechanisms for elite athletes, both administered by the Student Development Services (SDS) Office, and both carry no minimum academic admission requirement:

The Student Athletes Admission Scheme (SAAS) is CityU’s own institutional mechanism. It accepts letters of recommendation from the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), recognised National Sports Associations (NSAs), or sports clubs. Applicants are required to submit a CV, documentation of sports achievements, academic transcripts, and their JUPAS / non‑JUPAS application records. For 2026 entry the deadline is midnight on 18 May 2026, according tothe CityU SDS website^※.

The Student‑Athlete Learning Support and Admission Scheme (SALSA) is co‑ordinated bythe University Grants Committee (UGC)^※ and runs across all eight funded universities; it was launched in the 2022/23 academic year. SALSA’s elite‑sport threshold is more explicit: an applicant must be nominated by the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) or be a member of a recognised NSA and have attained “Elite Vote (EV) points of 3 or above.” Reference standards for EV 3 include: a medal at an Asian Championship, National Games, World Championship, Olympic or Paralympic Games; or placing 4th‑8th at an Asian Cup Final, World Cup Final or Asian Games (when the field exceeds 24 competitors), or in the top one‑third of the field (when the field comprises 24 or fewer competitors), as noted onthe CityU SALSA page^※. The UGC has allocated a maximum ofHK$150 million for SALSA in the 2025/26 – 2027/28 triennium^※; each university receives $1 million a year in central support funding, and each enrolled student‑athlete is eligible for a further individual‑support grant of up to $150,000.

Athlete admittees under both schemes may apply to access 40‑plus undergraduate programmes (across seven colleges). Successful CityU student‑athletes may be awarded theOutstanding Student Athletes Entrance Scholarship of up to HK$100,000 per year^※, together with a student‑hall scholarship ($15,900 per year) and more than 40 sports scholarships established by donors and academic departments.

Sports‑talent admission does not mean a lighter academic load — through SALSA, CityU provides enrolled student‑athletes with one‑stop academic support, including: a dedicated Student‑Athlete Support Coordinator who follows the student from entry to graduation; personal teaching assistants on request for academic enhancement; and flexible examination / coursework arrangements to accommodate competition and training cycles.

# OEA: what is worth reporting?

JUPAS Other Experiences and Achievements (OEA)^※ is a supplementary channel available to all JUPAS applicants; reporting is entirely voluntary. Applicants may record up to 10 OEA entries (as per the JUPAS official page), spanning eight categories: academic / intellectual development, arts and music, career‑related experiences, community / school service, leadership training, moral and civic education, religious activities, and sport and competition. Institutions assess each OEA entry on a case‑by‑case basis; outstanding candidates may receive a conditional offer. The OEA submission deadline is 5 p.m. on 2 January 2026, and late submissions are not accepted (as per the JUPAS official explanation). JUPAS advises that quality outweighs quantity: awards won at district or territory‑wide level generally carry more weight than records of ordinary participation.

# Creative‑media programmes have a separate portfolio review — how does that connect to non‑score admission?

The School of Creative Media (SCM) runs a flagship programme, CREATE (Creative Arts and Technology Excellence, JUPAS code JS1040), which supplements the JUPAS admission score with a portfolio review. It is a clear example of how CityU systematically incorporates creative talent into the assessment.

HKDSE applicants who place JS1040 as a Band A or Band B choice are strongly encouraged to submit a creative portfolio through the online system to the School between 22 January and 1 February 2026. The portfolio may include photography, drawing, sculpture, music composition / performance, films / videos, software and multimedia works, academic or creative writing, science projects, and so on (per theCityU Admissions Office CREATE programme page^※). After submission, applicants may be invited to an interview or other assessment so the School can evaluate “creative potential.” CREATE may also be applied for through SNDAS, further reflecting CityU’s “talent‑first” ethos that reaches beyond a single examination.

CREATE offers four streams, and the curriculum explicitly integrates the arts, computer science, digital technology and cultural studies. The flagship scholarship awarded upon enrolment covers tuition, residential fees and funding for overseas exchanges; its value, as published by the CityU Admissions Office, can reach as much as HK$500,000.

# Putting the pathways together: practical points

The table below captures the key pointers for local applicants considering these non‑score routes.