The Museum Studies Programme wishes to attract students with a background in the humanities especially with a focus on Art History, Archaeology, History, Literature Sciences but also from Art and Culture as well as Global Creative Industries.
Admissions requirements
Admissions requirements
(1.) Applications are invited for admissions in September 2023 to read for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) in the field of Museum Studies. The curriculum shall normally extend over one academic year of full-time study. The application deadline is 12:00 noon (GMT +8), May 16, 2025. The admissions will be made on a rolling basis.
(2.) To be eligible for admissions to the programme, a candidate shall satisfy both the University Admissions Requirements and the Programme Specific Requirements as listed below:
(a) shall comply with the General Regulations;
(https://calendar.hku.hk/general-regulations/)
(b) shall hold
(i) a good Bachelor’s degree of this University; or a qualification of equivalent standard from this University or another comparable institution accepted for this purpose; and
(ii) a good Bachelor’s degree with a major in Museum Studies or art history; or a closely related subject;
(c) for a candidate who is seeking admissions on the basis of a qualification from a university or comparable institution outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English, shall satisfy the University English language requirement applicable to higher degrees as prescribed under General Regulation G2(b).
(https://calendar.hku.hk/general-regulations/)
The programme has its specific requirements for TOEFL and IELTS:
Note: Only TOEFL/IELTS scores recorded in the two years before the date of application are considered.
(d) shall satisfy the examiners in a qualifying examination if required.
(3.) An application for exemption from the above requirements shall be considered on a case-by-case basis.
TOEFL: Paper-based test (PBT)
Overall score of 550 with 4 in Test of Written English (TWE)
Test
Minimum requirement
TOEFL: Internet-based test (iBT)
Overall score of 80 with 25 in Writing
IELTS
Band 7 with no subtest lower than 5.5
Application
Application
(4.) Applications for this programme and payment of application fee (HK$300 per application) should be submitted online at https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg.
(5.) After submitting the online application, applicants are required to upload the supporting documents before the application deadline and within four weeks from the date of the creation of their application account. A checklist of the required supporting documents is available at here.
(6.) In order to support the University’s environmental friendly initiatives, documents uploaded to the system should NOT be delivered to the University by post in duplicate, except for the official score report of TOEFL.
(7.) Applicants may contact the Faculty Office by email (artspgad@hku.hk) if they do not receive their application results by July 31, 2025.
Additional Questions
1.Uploaded Supporting Documents (Mandatory, in JPEG format)
Please indicate below the supporting documents (e.g., certificate(s), academic transcript(s), English writing sample(s), TOEFL/IELTS examination results for proof of the English language proficiency for applicants from universities or comparable institutions outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English) you are going to upload after submitting this application form.
For current studies, please upload the most updated information and academic results. You are strongly advised to upload your supporting documents right after submitting your application. Late provision of supporting documents may cause delays in the processing of your application.
Note: The maximum file size for each uploaded document is 3 MB (in JPEG format, page by page), up to a total of 20 files.
2.Reason for interest in the MA in Museum Studies programme. (Mandatory, 600-800 words)
3.Please indicate any prior academic work and/or practical experience related to museums and similar cultural institutions
4.Please invite two academic referees to provide E-reference via the online application system.
5.Other programme(s) you have applied for admission in 2025/26 (including programme(s) at HKU).
List and Name of Uploaded Documents
Programme
Institution
6. Source of information (Applicable to the MA in Museum Studies programme)
Faculty of Arts Website/Facebook/Email
School of Humanities (Museum Studies)/MA in Museum Studies Programme Website/Facebook/Email
School of Humanities (Museum Studies)/MA in Museum Studies Programme Poster/Leaflet (Location:_______________)
Newspaper (Please specify: __________________________________________________________)
Magazine (Please specify: ___________________________________________________________)
Online Advertisements (e.g. website, social media) (Please specify the media:__________________)
Outdoor Publicity (Please specify the location:___________________________________________)
Other Sources (Please specify: _______________________________________________________)
Notes on Submission of Supporting Documents
Notes on Submission of Supporting Documents:
An email notification will be sent to you within 48 hours, please follow the instructions in the email and upload your supporting documents in pdf format for our preliminary consideration by logging in https://tpg-admission-addon.its.hku.hk/applicant.
All documents should be submitted within one month starting from the date you receive the email notification. Your application number should be included on the file name of each document.
For example:
1100112910_T1 (stand for 1st submitted Transcript)
1100112910_G2 (stand for 2nd submitted Graduation Certificate)
T: Transcript
G: Graduation Certificate
B: Bachelor Certificate
E: International English Standard
P: Personal Statement
C: CV
N: Name Changing Proof
O: Other Certificates
Transcripts, diplomas, certificates and other submitted documents which are not in English should be accompanied by an officially certified translation in English. Certified translation may be provided by your home institution. You are strongly advised to upload your supporting documents right after submitting your application. Late provision of supporting documents may cause delays in the processing of your application.
Please note that you are not required to submit original/certified true copy of your documents to the University during the application stage. Should you be given an admission offer by the University, you will receive notification to submit certified true copy of your documents.
I have uploaded the following documents/have completed the followings in support of my application (please tick the boxes below where appropriate):
*Further Notes
All documents once submitted will NOT be returned. They will be destroyed if the application is unsuccessful.
For qualification obtained in China,
(i) Graduation Certificate (毕业证书):
Online Verification Report of Higher Education Qualification Certificate^ 教育部学历证书电子注册备案表 issued by CHSI (学信网) / CHESICC (全国高等学校学生信息咨询与就业指导中心)
Applicant can apply the report at https://www.chsi.com.cn/
or https://www.chsi.com.cn/en/
Please set the validity period of the report as 6 months or the longest available.
(ii) Bachelor’s Degree (学士学位证书):
Online Verification Report of Higher Education Degree Certificate 中国高等教育学位在线验证报告 issued by CHSI (学信网)
Applicant can apply the report at CHSI (学信网) https://www.chsi.com.cn.
(iii) an official transcript in Chinese accompanied by certified translation in English by the issuing institution are required.
Certified true copy of academic document can be arranged by
(i) a notary public (e.g. a Commissioner for Oaths at a District Office in Hong Kong); or
(ii) your home institution if you are an overseas applicant.
For all undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications attained from HKU, applicants should attach a copy of the official final transcript including a complete record of courses attended, grades, overall result and date of award.
This completed supporting documents checklist.
For all undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications attained from institutions other than HKU, applicants should attach copies of graduation certificate and official final transcript including a complete record of courses attended, grades, overall result and date of award.
For all current studies which have yet to be completed, applicants should attach a copy of their most up-to-date transcript.
TOEFL / IELTS [please delete as appropriate] official score report for applicants from universities or comparable institutions outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English. Applicants who took the TOEFL should request the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send an official score report to Dr. Florian Knothe (University’s TOEFL code: 9671) directly. Original/certified true copy of the examinee’s score record will not be accepted.
Invited two academic referees to provide E-reference via the online application system.
(E-reference from official university/company email addresses is preferred.)
Asked my home institutions to post transcripts directly to Prof. Florian Knothe before the application deadline and within four weeks from the date of the creation of my application account, as I have not uploaded an official/certified transcript (if applicable). (Please complete the attached “Cover Sheet for Transcript Submission” and send it to the appropriate officer of institution from which the transcript is issued.)
Cover Sheet for Transcript Submission
(i) To the Applicant: Applicants who did not attach their original official transcript should complete the first part of this form and send it to the appropriate officer of the institution from which the transcript is requested.
(ii) To the Officer responsible for issuing transcripts:
The applicant named above has applied for admission to a postgraduate curriculum at The University of Hong Kong. Please send a copy of the official transcript together with this form directly to the respective Programme Committee:
Professor Florian Knothe
Programme Committee for M.A. in Museum Studies
c/o University Museum and Art Gallery
The University of Hong Kong
90 Bonham Road
Pokfulam, Hong Kong
HKSAR, China
Regulations and Syllabuses
Regulations and Syllabuses
(8) The regulations and syllabuses for the MA programmes can be viewed at here
Concurrent Studies
Concurrent Studies
(9) General Regulation G6(b)(i) prohibits concurrent registration by a student of this University for any other post-secondary qualification either at this University or at any educational institution, unless approval of the Senate has been obtained in advance. Students in breach of this regulation may be required to discontinue their studies at this University.
Visa for Studies in Hong Kong
Visa for Studies in Hong Kong
(10) If you are not a holder of a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card, a dependent visa, a work visa or an IANG (Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates) visa, you must obtain a student visa before registration in our programmes. Normally the student visa is only granted to those admitted to full-time studies. Students are responsible for ensuring that they have a valid visa and register in the programmes before the study begins. If any student fails to register in time, the offer of admissions may be withdrawn and all fees already paid will not be refunded.
General Info
Please also visit the University Taught Postgraduate Admissions website at https://admissions.hku.hk/tpg before submitting your application.
Tuition Fee
As a self-funded programme, we charge the tuition fee of HK$280,000 (2025–2026)
Scholarship
A limited number of scholarships will be available to students with outstanding academic performance and/or demonstrated financial need.
Housing
As taught postgraduate programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts are self-funded and only students enrolled in government-funded programmes are eligible to University housing, you are advised to find your own accommodation outside the University. For those who need to look for private off-campus accommodation near the University, please contact the Centre of Development and Resources for Students | HKU for assistance and advice.