Educational qualifications

One of the licensing requirements for a salesperson's licence or an estate agent's licence (individual) is the completion of an educational level of Form 5 of secondary education or its equivalent. Licence applicants are required to provide acceptable documentary evidence to prove that they have fulfilled the requirement. Acceptable documentary evidence includes the following:

(a) Documents issued by recognized education institutions indicating the level of education completed (e.g. graduation certificates, transcripts and confirmation letters);

(b) Documents issued by recognized examination / assessment institutions indicating the subjects passed (e.g. a pass in 5 different subjects in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE*) or the specified combination of results** in five different subjects under the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination).

Only original documents or copies certified by a practising solicitor in Hong Kong are acceptable.

Not all institutions or the curriculum they offer are recognized. Generally, institutions are recognized if they are registered with the relevant government departments (e.g. secondary schools registered with the Hong Kong Education Bureau), or listed in a formal register (e.g. those listed in the registers of the Australian Qualifications Framework), or authorized to confer the qualification by the relevant government or its agencies (e.g. Mainland institutions authorized by the State Council) or by statute of the region / country in question (e.g. UK universities authorized by the relevant Acts of Parliament) or accredited by recognized bodies (e.g. institutions in the United States accredited by bodies recognized by the Secretary of Education).

Completion of the following level or higher is considered as fulfilling the requirement:

(a) Hong Kong:

     - Form 5 (including Secondary 5 under the new secondary school system);
     - passes* in 5 different subjects under the HKCEE;
     - passes in 10 different subjects under the Project Yijin Programme;
     - the specified combination of results** in five different subjects under the HKDSE Examination;

(b) Mainland: Senior high school or polytechnic school;
(c) Australia: Year 11;
(d) Canada: Year 11;
(e) New Zealand: Year 11;
(f) United Kingdom: Year 11 or Form 5;
(g) USA: Year 11;
(h) The Philippines: Year 1 of university;
(i) Other countries / regions: considered on a case by case basis.

Applicants having other overseas qualification, especially those of a vocational nature (as opposed to a general education), may be asked to consider having their qualification assessed, at their own costs, by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications whose assessment will be accepted for the purpose of determining whether the education requirement is met.

EAA will contact the relevant institutions and/or government departments to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted and the accuracy of the contents therein. Suspected cases of forgery or the provision of false or misleading information, which is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum of 1 year imprisonment and a fine of $100,000, will be investigated and, if evidence warrants, will be referred to the Police for further investigation and prosecution, and licences which have already been granted will be revoked and/or the applications for such licences refused. Moreover, as the use of false or forged educational documents is a serious act of dishonesty, the EAA will consider the relevant applicant's fitness and properness to be granted a licence in his/her subsequent licence application(s).  Generally, a licence applicant who has submitted false or forged educational document(s) in connection with a licence application will not be considered a fit and proper person for a period of 3 years from the date on which his/her licence application is refused or his/her licence is revoked (as the case may be) by the EAA.

Applicants with overseas or Mainland qualifications are required to fill out a questionnaire to assist the EAA in verifying the information provided.

Licence applications from those who do not provide acceptable documentary evidence or whose documentary evidence is considered not meeting the requirement will be rejected.

Prospective licence applicants are advised to ascertain that they have met the educational qualification requirement before they register for the relevant qualifying examination.  

For enquiries, please call 2111 2777 (press 2, 2 and after selecting language).

* For the HKCEE, the following is considered a pass: attainment of grade E or above or, under the standards - reference reporting scheme since 2007, level 2 or above.

** The specified combination of results in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination is: level 2 in New Senior Secondary subjects; "attained" in Applied Learning subjects (subject to a maximum of two such subjects); grade E in Other Language subjects.