All non-local programmes/courses as defined under the Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance (Cap 493) must be registered or be exempted from registration with the Registrar of Non-local Higher and Professional Education Courses to be allowed to operate in Hong Kong. For more details, please refer to the Non-local Course Registry (NCR)’s web page.
An operator can seek accreditation by HKCAAVQ for its non-local programme (NLP) upon being registered or exempted from registration with NCR. NLP Accreditation is a quality assurance process that assesses a NLP against a set of criteria to ensure the learning programme meets minimum quality standards under the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework (QF).
Under the Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Ordinance (Cap 592), a NLP accredited by HKCAAVQ enjoys similar status to locally-accredited programmes, and its qualification is recognised under the QF and can be placed on the Qualifications Register (QR).
Accreditation does not replace the registration/exemption process under Cap 493; its result will not affect the programme’s registration/exemption status.
Why Seek NLP accreditation?
Accredited NLP qualifications attained by individual students will be recognised as meeting the standard of particular qualifications obtained in Hong Kong. Full-time students enrolled in tertiary-level NLPs accredited by HKCAAVQ are eligible for the Government’s Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students (FASP) and Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Post-secondary Students (NLSPS).
The Government policy requires all new applications for CEF registration, including those from regulated non-local courses, submitted after May 2008, to be on the QR with a valid QR registration number. To this end, the non-local courses offered through CEF will also need to go through the NLP accreditation conducted by HKCAAVQ.
Briefing and Training Workshop
From time to time HKCAAVQ organises briefing sessions and training workshops to update operators with information about the NLP accreditation services.