This year's Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (DSE) will be released in July. There have always been many students interested in studying abroad. According to data from the Education Bureau, the number of students studying abroad has increased by more than 1,000 in the past two years, rising proportionally to the highest since the first DSE.
How many students are currently studying abroad?
Are the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and other places still the most popular places for Hong Kong people to study abroad?
According to statistics from the Education Bureau, in 2021, 5,645 Secondary Six students will leave Hong Kong for further studies, and in 2020, there will be 6,009, more than 1,000 students in both years compared with 2019.
At the same time, the number of secondary six students continued to decrease, and the number of students leaving Hong Kong for two years accounted for about 14% of the overall secondary six, the highest since 2012.
Among the students who leave Hong Kong for further studies, more and more students have gone to the Mainland in recent years, from 1,229 in 2019 to 1,985 last year, an increase of 61.5%, and now account for about 35% of all students leaving Hong Kong for further studies.
Followed by Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Australia and other places have always been more popular study abroad destinations.
If we calculate the overall number of international students in higher education, including universities and graduate students, the countries with the largest number of students studying abroad are the United Kingdom, Mainland China and Australia.
Statistics from UNESCO show that in 2019, more than 36,000 Hong Kong students studied in 21 countries, of which about 16,000 were in the UK.
In addition, according to Legislative Council documents, as of January 2020, there were also about 16,000 Hong Kong students studying in the mainland.
In recent years, the number of mainland students studying in mainland China has continued to rise. As of January 2022, the number of Hong Kong students studying in mainland universities and research institutes has reached 18,430, an increase of 11.3% over the previous year.
Some Hong Kong people go to other places for further study, and even immigrate to the local area after graduation.
The Canadian government launched the "Lifeboat Project" in early 2021, and Hong Kong people can immigrate to the local area through study or work.
According to Canadian government data, as of December 31, 2021, the number of Hong Kong residents holding valid student visas has soared to 7,640, an increase of 81.5% over the previous year.
The United Kingdom and Taiwan also launched similar immigration programs, with the latest numbers of Hong Kong students rising by 285 and 824, respectively.
In addition, data from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission shows that there have been 11,000 to 13,000 Hong Kong students studying in Hong Kong in the past five years, and about 12,000 Hong Kong students will enroll in 2021, a slight decrease of 430 from the previous year.