The Continuing Education Fund (CEF) subsidises adults with learning aspirations to pursue continuing education and training. The CEF new enhancement measures have been implemented from 1 August 2022. The subsidy ceiling has increased from HK$20,000 to HK$25,000 per applicant. To tie in with the enhancement measures, the School is actively expending the scope of our CEF reimbursable courses to areas of Chinese Medicine, Health Care, Education, Arts, and etc., in response to the learning needs of different learners.

 

The School has designed a variety of quality programmes and courses in the areas of Business Services, Design, Financial Services, Languages, Logistics, Tourism and Creative Industries that qualify for CEF reimbursement.

 

The following information is extracted from the website of the Continuing Education Fund at https://www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/cef/en/index.htm, whichever is subject to it.

 

 

 

New Enhancement Measures of Continuing Education Fund^ (Effective from 1 August 2022)

• increase of the CEF subsidy ceiling from $20,000 to $25,000 per person;
• the co-payment ratio by learners (i.e. the percentage of course fee to be borne by learners) for the first $10,000 subsidy remains to be 20% of the course fee, and that for the remaining $15,000 subsidy is 40% of the course fee; and
• removal of the upper age limit for CEF applicants.

^ The new enhancement measures are applicable only for CEF courses commencing on or after 1 August 2022.

 

 

Enhancement Measures of Continuing Education Fund^# (Effective from 1 April 2019)

• increasing the CEF subsidy ceiling from HK$10,000 to HK$20,000 per applicant;
• closed CEF accounts to be re-activated, so that the account holders can make use of the unused balance (if any) under the original subsidy of HK$10,000 as well as the additional subsidy of HK$10,000;
• regarding the co-payment ratios by learners (i.e. the percentage of course fee to be borne by learners), the ratio for the first HK$10,000 subsidy is 20% of the course fee and that for the second HK$10,000 subsidy is 40% of the course fee;
• relaxing the upper age limit for applicants from 65 to 70;
• expanding the scope of CEF courses to all eligible courses registered in Qualifications Register (QR);
• lifting the restrictions on the validity period or the number of claims for CEF accounts.

# Enhancement measures are applicable only for CEF reimbursable courses commenced from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2022.

 

 

Eligibility

Persons who meet the following criteria can apply for CEF:

• Hong Kong residents who have the right of abode or the right to land or to remain in Hong Kong without restriction; or holders of one-way permit from Mainland China;
• **Aged between 18 and 70 (i.e. before reaching the age of 71) both at the time when the CEF reimbursable course under application commences and at the time when an application for fee reimbursement is submitted, which should be within one year upon the *successful completion of the CEF reimbursable course. Late applications will not be accepted;
• Have enrolled in and paid the tuition fee for the CEF reimbursable course; and
• Have not obtained any other public funds or assistance under any other publicly-funded financial assistance schemes for the same course, such as grants or loans from the “Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students” administered by the Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFO, WFSFAA), etc.

* "Successful completion of the CEF reimbursable course" means the claimant has an attendance rate of not less than 70% (or such higher attendance requirement as prescribed for the course) and has passed the course assessments as required by the School. Applicants studying language proficiency course are required to pass a specified benchmark test / examination (if applicable) at the specified (or higher) level to be eligible for fee reimbursement.

** Please note the new Enchancement Measures (Effective from 1 August 2022) as mentioned above.

 

Reimbursement Procedures (Effective from 1 January 2025)

• Applicants are only required to complete Application Form, which is a combined application form for both account opening and fee reimbursement. 
• Please refer to the Guidance Notes for Application [SFO 312_E (2024)] and the following information when completing the application form:
   

  (i)	Name of Institution: CUHK-SCS
  (ii)	CEF Institution Code: 105
  (iii)	CEF Course Code
  (iv)	CEF Course Title
  (v)	Course Commencement Date
  (vi)	Course Completion Date
  (vii)	Date of 1st Instalment of Tuition Fee Paid
  (viii)	Actual Amount of Tuition Fee Paid

  
  Please note that (vi) Course Completion Date can only be provided upon the University's approval of the graduation list and successful completion of the CEF course.   If applicants request the School to provide the course information to complete the application form, please fill out the online form.  Your request will be dealt with via email.
• Applicants can submit the (1) electronic or (2) paper-based application to the office of the Continuing Education Fund (OCEF):
  
  (1)   Electronic application
  Applicants may complete and submit the online application form with supporting documents through “GovHK”. Applicants who did not use “iAM Smart+” for digital signing in the online submission of the application form are required to print out a hard copy of the form and sign the Declaration in Part D and submit the printed form with original signature to the OCEF within one month after online submission in order to be considered as a valid application. Applicants using “iAM Smart+” for digital signing are not required to submit the printed copy of application form to the OCEF.
  
  (2)  Paper-based application
  Application form [SFO 313 (2024)]can be obtained from OCEF or Home Affairs Enquiry Centres, or downloaded from the OCEF's website. The original of the completed application form with copies of supporting documents [One-way Permit (if applicable), documentary proof of passing the specified language benchmark test / examination (if applicable), language benchmark test / examination fee receipts (if applicable) and the front page of the applicant’s bank passbook or bank statement showing the name, account number and bank name / bank code] should be posted or submitted in person to OCEF.
  
  Address: Office of the Continuing Education Fund
                 Units 07-11, 25/F., CDW Building
                 388 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan
                 New Territories
  
  Applicants may also place their applications in the drop-in boxes. Please note the opening hours of the drop-in boxes.
• Copies of all submitted supporting documents are not returnable. Applicants should retain copies for their own reference.

 

Note: Office of the Continuing Education Fund will process old Application Form [SFO 313 (2022)] at its discretion until March 2025.

 

Notification of Result for Reimbursement Applications

• If applicants do not receive any acknowledgement of receipt by SMS messages from OCEF after 10 working days from the date of submission of their applications, please contact OCEF at 3142-2277 (Handled by the staff of "1823").
• In general, application results will be issued within six weeks from the date of receipt of the application for existing CEF account holders or eight weeks for the first time applicants subject to the provision of complete and accurate information.

 

For enquiries, please contact OCEF's 24-hour hotline at 3142-2277 (Handled by the staff of "1823") or the School at 2209-0478/2209-0235.

 

 

Please click here for details of the procedures for handling student complaints related to CEF courses.