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HSBC Overseas Scholarship 2024-25 (Deadline: 18 January 2024)

Scholarships
09 NOV 2023 - 18 JAN 2024

HSBC has a long history of supporting educational activities and nurturing young people for the betterment of the community. For the 2024-25 academic year, HSBC is offering HSBC Overseas Scholarship, at a maximum total value of up to HK$1,500,000 with a maximum amount of HK$300,000 per scholarship, to local full-time non-final year undergraduate students in Hong Kong. There is no pre-set number of scholarship awards for each university. 

The scholarship will support the recipients to study abroad for either one semester or one academic year, and return to our University to complete their studies and graduate. Applicants are recommended to choose from this list of overseas universities. Hong Kong Baptist University will nominate two eligible candidates to compete with students from other universities in Hong Kong for the Scholarship.

Each scholarship will cover (1) tuition fees and mandatory college fees, (2) a minimum economy return airfare, and (3) reasonable 
room and board costs, books, and a small portion of living expenses and visa application fees. For more details, please click here.

Online information session

Interested applicants are strongly recommended to join the online information session on 30 November (Thursday) 5-6pm. Please click here for the details of the information session.

ELIGIBILITY

Application is now open to non-final year full-time undergraduate students who are enrolled in UGC-funded degree programmes of any disciplines, and who: 

(1) are Hong Kong permanent residents with the right of abode in Hong Kong;

(2) have attained a cumulative GPA score of 3.70 or above (or top 3% of class, or met HKBU’s standard for first class honours) in the first semester of the academic year 2023-24;
(Although students may not know whether they belong to the top 3% of their class, they should submit their application first, and the Office of Student Affairs will verify whether an applicant is eligible to compete for the Scholarship, i.e., whether he/she belongs to the top 3% group, after the application closes.)

(3) have a minimum total TOEFL score of 90 (Internet-based test) with scores for individual sections not lower than 22 on listening, 17 on writing, 21 on reading, and 21 on speaking; or a minimum IELTS overall band score of 6.5, with no component below 6.0. These requirements are irrespective of the admission requirements of the intended overseas universities. Please note that the English proficiency tests must have been taken on 12 February 2022 or later. If unavailable by the application deadline below, test results can be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs on or before 1 February 2024 (Wednesday);

(4) demonstrate strong financial needs (priority will be given to students from a financially disadvantaged background);

(5) are well-rounded, participating in extra-curricular and/or community service activities;

(6) have no extensive experience living or studying abroad.

  • The Scholarship will not be awarded to students who enroll in an overseas study course of less than a semester.
  • Awardees should not receive other scholarships from the University for the same exchange programme concurrently. 
  • Awardees are expected to return to their home universities in Hong Kong after their overseas study to complete their degree in Hong Kong; otherwise, they have to reimburse the full cost of scholarship.


APPLICATION

Please click here to download the application form. The form is fillable. Please type in the form.

The Office of Student Affairs will certify your eligibility in the very last section of the application form. Please leave that section blank (i.e., Do NOT ask your faculty/department staff to fill in that part).

  1. Save your completed application form and add PDF attachments of your transcript (student copy), personal essay and recommendation letter as instructed on the application form. Scan all the required supporting documents (i.e., TOEFL/IELTS results, SLES profile, certificate/proof of extra-curricular activities/community services/achievements, etc.). Combine your application form and scanned supporting documents as ONE (1) PDF file.
  2. Name your PDF file in the format of "HSBC Overseas_student ID_full name" (e.g. HSBC Overseas_20221111_Chan Tai Man). We may not be able to identify your submission if you do not name your file as instructed.
  3. Make sure the scans of your documents are clear and legible. Any parts that are missing, unclear, and incomprehensible will NOT be considered.
  4. Try to keep your pdf file under 25MB. You may not need to scan the documents in the highest/top quality if standard quality suffice. Your PDF file should NOT exceed 25MB.
  5. Login to our “Documents Upload Platform” at https://sfa.hkbu.edu.hk/supporting_docs/ with your SSOid. Choose and click “HSBC Overseas Scholarship” in the menu to upload the documents. We will NOT be able to receive your documents if you choose another scheme, so please click the scheme name carefully. The “Documents Upload Platform” will close automatically at the application deadline 11:59pm of 18 January 2024 (Thursday). You will receive an auto-email from the system upon successful upload of your PDF file.
  6. To avoid being late, you should upload your PDF well before the deadline, as there may be unexpected technical errors/difficulties that require you extra time to solve. Note that the submission time is subject to our system’s clock on the website, which may or may not be the same as your watch, and the Office of Student Affairs has the discretion to make final judgments on whether the application is considered late.

You may print out/scan your SLES record (https://sles.hkbu.edu.hk/) as supporting proofs for HKBU internal activities/ service/ scholarships. Copies of certificates, letters, name cards, emails, magazines, webpages, newspaper clippings and/or other documents that have (1) your name, (2) the position held and (3) the organization name can be used as the supporting documents for your activities/ services if they do not appear on your SLES record. However, please highlight the relevant information on the documents for easy identification. 

Partial submissions/late applications will NOT be considered. You should ONLY attach relevant supporting documents with your application form. Form submission via hardcopy or email is not accepted.

  • Please click here for general tips on completing scholarship application forms.
  • Faculty members are welcome to nominate eligible students to apply.
     

SELECTION AND AWARD CONDITIONS

After internal paper vetting, shortlisted students may be invited to attend an internal selection interview in late Jan/early Feb 2024. Up to two candidates will be recommended to HSBC for their final panel interview to be held before April 2024.

  • Students who cannot physically attend the internal selection interview and/or the panel interview arranged by HSBC due to exchange/ placement/ internship should NOT apply.
  • This Scholarship requires competition with students from other institutions. There is no guarantee that all or any of the candidate(s) nominated will be invited to the interview or will receive a scholarship.

Conditional offers will be made in May/June 2024 by HSBC to candidates who fulfil all selection criteria, who are recommended by their respective school, and are selected by the HSBC interview panel.  Offers are finalised upon the reciept of:

  • an official admission letter from the intended overseas university;
  • an application form to the Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme or a similar programme that HSBC has approved in writing.

ENQUIRY

For enquiries, please feel free to contact us at 3411 2311 or by email to sfa@hkbu.edu.hk