The Education Bureau announced Monday that its Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions or Sectors (SSSDP) would fund 4,711 places across 59 undergraduate programmes at eight self-financing institutions in the 2027-28 academic year. The overall number of subsidised places fell by 70 from the current year, a drop of about 1 per cent.
Subsidised places for physiotherapy and occupational therapy programmes at three self-financing institutions were cut by about a third for the coming academic year, as graduates face a tightening job market.
Total intake for three physiotherapy programmes will drop from 175 in 2026-27 to 120 in 2027-28, a 31 per cent cut. Tung Wah College and Saint Francis University each saw their Year One intake reduced from 60 to 40, while Hong Kong Metropolitan University’s intake fell from 55 to 40. Tung Wah College’s occupational therapy programme was similarly trimmed, from 60 to 40.
The cuts follow continuing healthcare budget constraints and an increase in the number of new practitioners. The government reduced recurrent public expenditure by 1 per cent for 2025-26 and by 2 per cent in each of the following two years.
Alexander Woo Chuen-hau, president of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association, backed the reduction to prevent a mismatch between graduates and available jobs. He said the Hospital Authority hired about 90 physiotherapy graduates this year, compared with more than 200 in a financial year before the government began its three-year budget cuts last year.
Some non-governmental organisations were now hiring physiotherapy graduates as programme workers on monthly salaries of less than HK$20,000 (about US$2,549), Woo added.
The scheme covers 10 disciplines identified as having strong manpower demand, from computer science and healthcare to logistics and tourism. Hong Kong Metropolitan University’s applied degree in robotics and automation engineering received 40 places, and Hong Kong Shue Yan University’s programme in digital solutions for entertainment and game applications received 25.
Annual government subsidies vary by programme cost: HK$81,450 for laboratory-based courses and HK$46,780 for non-laboratory-based ones, with higher rates for applied degrees. The narrower funded intake leaves fewer subsidised routes into allied health fields where hiring has already slowed.