The HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE) stands as a testament to the transformative power of lifelong learning in one of Asia‘s most dynamic cities. Founded in 1956/57 as the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Extra Mural Studies (DEMS), it was the first continuing education unit established within a university in the entire Asia-Pacific region. In 1992, the department was renamed the School of Professional and Continuing Education, and in 1999, following a government decision that continuing education could no longer receive public funding, HKU SPACE was formally incorporated as a university company limited by guarantee. This structural evolution ensured that while the School’s operations were ring-fenced from those of its publicly funded parent university, it remained fully committed to delivering lifelong learning opportunities to the wider Hong Kong community.
Mission and Governance
As the extension arm of the University of Hong Kong, HKU SPACE fulfils a vital part of the University‘s mission by providing learning opportunities for personal, professional, and career advancement for people from all walks of life. The School is organised into three academic colleges—the College of Business and Finance, the College of Humanities and Law, and the College of Life Sciences and Technology—which collectively oversee 23 subject groups and a diverse portfolio of part-time courses at all academic levels. In addition, the School operates its Community College for full-time sub-degree programmes, as well as the HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Stanley Ho Community College, a joint venture with one of Hong Kong’s leading charitable organisations. Buy fake diploma online.
International Partnerships
HKU SPACE has long been a pioneer in transnational education. The School was the first in Hong Kong to offer international courses in collaboration with renowned overseas partners. Its partnership with the University of London, now spanning more than six decades, began in 1964 with the introduction of the first full-time LLB programme. Today, HKU SPACE serves as both a Recognised Teaching Centre and the official Admissions Office for the University of London in Hong Kong—the only institution in the city to hold both roles simultaneously. In 2008, the University of London recognised HKU SPACE as one of only six partners worldwide to receive a special award on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. Beyond London, the School collaborates with a wide range of academic institutions across the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Mainland China, offering some 80 international programmes to more than 3,200 students.
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Quality Assurance and Recognition
Quality assurance lies at the very core of HKU SPACE‘s operations. In 2021, the School underwent an International Quality Review against the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area and was found to have fulfilled all ten ESG criteria, a recognition formally confirmed by the German accreditation agency ASIIN in 2022. The ASIIN institutional accreditation seal was subsequently extended for a further five years until 2028, with experts commending the School’s “particularly strong” institutional leadership and its “manifold, well-functioning quality management systems.” Most recently, the 2024 Quality Audit Report by the University Grants Committee‘s Quality Assurance Council commended HKU SPACE for its “unwavering commitment to excellence in teaching and learning,” recognising its robust systems for programme development, academic standards, and external examining.
Scale and Community Impact
With close to 1,000 full-time staff and over 2,000 part-time teaching staff, HKU SPACE is the largest and longest-standing continuing education provider in Hong Kong. From its first cohort of just 330 students in 1957, cumulative course enrolments surpassed 3.4 million in 2025. The School operates a network of learning centres across Hong Kong, including the 13-storey Kowloon East Campus and the 19-storey HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Community College in Causeway Bay, and it offers programmes in five Mainland Chinese cities: Suzhou, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. As the largest provider of courses under the Hong Kong Government‘s Continuing Education Fund (CEF) scheme, HKU SPACE continues to uphold its founding promise: that education should not be reserved for the young or the privileged, but should remain an open door accessible to every member of society at every stage of life.