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  4. International Qualifications Applicants

International Qualifications Applicants

HKUST Business School holistically assesses applicants with international or national qualifications. This page shows the admissions requirements and standards of the three most common international qualifications, namely IB Diploma, British GCE A-Level and SAT/AP.

If you are taking other international or national qualifications, please visit HERE for details.

Subject-specific Requirements

Except the quantitative-oriented programs listed below, other business programs do not require specific mathematics subject. Students from all subjects are welcome to apply.

BSc Economics and Finance
BSc Quantitative Finance
BSc Risk Management and Business Intelligence
  • IBDP: HL Mathematics
  • GCEAL: Further Mathematics
  • SAT / AP: AP Calculus BC
  • Other qualifications: Senior Level Mathematics
BBA Economics
BBA Finance
BSc Sustainable and Green Finance
  • IBDP: SL Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches or HL Mathematics
  • GCEAL: Mathematics, Pure Mathematics or Further Mathematics
  • SAT/AP: AP Calculus AB or Calculus BC
  • Other qualifications: Mathematics

Boundary Scores

The boundary scores below are for general reference only. Applicants’ overall profiles are always holistically assessed. Those with strong academic/non-academic profiles but marginally miss the reference scores may also be considered.

School-based Admissions
i.e. Business and Management

  • IBDP ≥34
  • GCEAL ≥AAB
  • SAT Reasoning ≥1320 + 4s in two AP subjects; OR
    4s in five AP subjects
Program-based Admissions
Individual programs with different expected scores starting from the following boundary scores:
  • IBDP ≥36 to 42
  • GCEAL ≥AAA to A*A*A*
  • SAT Reasoning ≥1350 to 1510 + 5s in two AP subjects; OR
    55444 to 55555 in five AP subjects

Application Choices

Students applying on basis of international qualifications can select up to two application choices.

If you are interested in business study in general and would like to take time to explore your program interest and aspiration, you should choose the application choice of "Business and Management" to enter the School first and select your desired major(s) at the end of the first few semesters. About half of the program seats for each major are reserved for students admitted into Business & Management to enter the programs via the Major Selection Exercises (MSE).

If you have particular interest and understanding in a specific business program (e.g. Marketing), you should put it as your 1st choice and school-based admissions choice of "Business & Management" as your 2nd choice or alternative choices to maximize your chance to be admitted to HKUST Business School (given the smaller intake size of program-based admissions).

The year 1 curricula of all Business programs are identical. Students entering via either route will start major program study from 2nd year onwards. With the first major confirmed, students may also choose to pursue an Additional Major or an Extended Major afterwards.

Important Dates and Assessment/ Offer Timeline (for 2027 Intake)

The assessment of applications and offer decisions are conducted on a rolling basis after the priority round. Interested candidates are encouraged to submit applications as early as possible.

The important dates below are for general reference.

Early Oct
2026
Application opens
    25 Nov
    2026
    Deadline for priority round application^
      Nov
      2026 
      onwards
      Interview (if applicable)
        Late Dec
        2026 
        onwards
        Announcement of offers on a rolling basis#
          Late Jul
          2027
          onwards
          Registration
          1 Sep
          2027
          Term commencement

          Remarks:

          ^ Complete applications (including supporting documents) received before the priority round application deadline (i.e. 25 Nov 2026) will be considered for early decision offers. Applications submitted after that date will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

          # The application system will officially close on 30 Jun 2027. However, as admissions are conducted on a rolling basis, available places may be filled well before the closing date if we receive a sufficient number of strong applications. Therefore, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible.