The Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced on the 11th that there will be 7 to 145 new mainland higher education institutions participating in the "Mainland Universities Enrollment Scheme for Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination Students" (referred to as the "Diploma Admission Scheme") for the 2025/26 academic year, distributed in 21 provinces, municipalities directly under the central government, and 1 autonomous region in mainland China, and accepting applications from candidates for the 2025 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. The newly added mainland universities in the 2025/26 academic year's diploma examination enrollment plan include Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, China Academy of Art, University of Nottingham Ningbo, University of Foshan, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), and Guangdong Israel Institute of Technology. A spokesperson for the Education Bureau of the Special Administrative Region Government stated that mainland higher education institutions participating in the Diploma Examination Admission Scheme will select Hong Kong students based on their scores in the Diploma Examination, eliminating the need for students to participate in the Mainland Joint Entrance Examination. The spokesperson said that the courses offered by the 145 participating universities have their own characteristics. The SAR government encourages Hong Kong students to study in mainland China through this program, seize the opportunity to learn about the latest social, economic, and cultural landscape of the country, and plan their future development path. Under the Diploma Examination Admission Scheme, there is a Principal Recommendation Scheme, with 8 spots available for each secondary school. Eligible Hong Kong students studying bachelor's degree programs at designated mainland universities may apply for means tested or non means tested funding under the Mainland University Admission Scheme. The Ministry of Education announced in 2011 that 63 mainland universities would exempt Hong Kong students from the Mainland Joint Entrance Examination and began implementing it in 2012, which was then known as the "Scheme for Mainland Universities to Exempt Hong Kong Students from Examinations". (New Society)