New deal to see yearly intake of engineering students from Hong Kong

The Department of Engineering strikes a deal to admit outstanding students from the Chinese university

by Olivia FitzGerald

This article is 14 years old

Friday December 30 2011, 12:54pm

The Cambridge engineering department is soon to be joined and boosted by a yearly intake of top students from the University of Hong Kong. A new deal has been recently agreed upon between the two universities which hopes to ensure that students with the greatest engineering potential are able to find their way to Cambridge.

After their first year of study at HKU, students will be assessed on their academic potential. If this is recognized as being particularly outstanding, they will then be given the opportunity to relocate to Cambridge in order to continue their studies. Their previous year at HKU will be seen as a foundation year that is to provide a firm basis which will help them to embark upon a full engineering degree at the University of Cambridge.

This is by no means an easy door to open. Recruitment is set to be selective, with fewer than 15 places available each year. Furthermore, it has been stressed by Geoff Parks, admissions director at Cambridge, that this is not to be viewed as a scheme as specifically targeting Chinese students for success, but rather discovering and selecting “best students from all over the world”.

The deal looks as though it will be an effective and successful way of improving the international admissions process. Dr Parks is also reported to have discussed how the “school-leaving standards from Chinese schools are highly variable from province to province.” Therefore, recruiting directly from schools would be a difficult and, almost certainly, ineffective feat. According to Dr Parks, “The first year at HKU bridges that gap, preparing students for study at Cambridge.”

Competition for engineering places looks as though it is to be made even stiffer, but also hopefully fairer and more accessible to the international community. If this particular deal proves to be a success, then undoubtedly it will be pursued in other subject areas. The competition is heating up and spreading internationally with the aim of keeping academic standards at Cambridge on top of the world.

Image source: Baycrest

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