Admission scores for physiotherapy degree programmes at three Hong Kong tertiary institutions fell by as much as 10 per cent this year compared with 2025, amid gloomy career prospects in the sector, the latest data shows.
The decline prompted the professional body for physiotherapists to call on the government to halt healthcare funding cuts in the next budget, saying they had contributed to a jobs crunch in the sector.
Across four institutions, 23 per cent of students admitted to physiotherapy programmes this year had ranked the course outside their top three choices, up from just 2 per cent in 2025. The figures suggest that more first-year students did not consider physiotherapy their preferred field of study.
The fall in both popularity and admission scores came after the government announced last year that recurrent public expenditure would be cut by 1 to 2 per cent in 2025-26, with the arrangement extended to 2027-28.