Programme Overview
The Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) is a unique and innovative postgraduate certificate that offers skills-focused training closely reflecting the work lawyers undertake.
The PCLL has been developed in close consultation with the legal profession to meet its current needs and to equip students with the skills they will need to work as a trainee solicitor or a pupil barrister.
How and when to apply
Applications for 2026-2027 admissions are now invited. You must submit your application on or before 30 April 2026. Late applications or incomplete applications will not be considered.
Before submitting an application, please read the following two documents:
To submit an application, please use our on-line application system at the University’s Graduate School webpage.
Admission Requirements
The basis for admission to the PCLL Programme is academic merit.
The most important indicator of academic merit is your common law degree, usually a Bachelor of Laws or a Juris Doctor degree, though we also consider applicants with Common Professional Examination (CPE), Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or the Advanced Diploma for Legal Executives (Graduate Level) (HKU SPACE).
Your law qualification will be assessed by reference to the classification, including grades, marks or other indicators of academic merit.
A limited number of PCLL places may be offered to candidates who have a law qualification and law-related full-time working experience (not including internships and mini-pupillages) of not less than two years’ continuous duration. Such working experience must be evidenced by supporting documents (See “3. Supporting Documents” in “Important Notes to Applicants”.).
You must meet the eligibility requirements for admission to the PCLL set out in the statement issued by the Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training (available at www.pcea.com.hk). You must also hold a valid International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Certificate (academic module) from a test taken on a date which is not earlier than three years preceding the closing date for applications at the IELTS test centre with an overall score of 7 or above (in a single sitting).
Since the most important indicator of your academic merit is your common law qualification, whether you have a training contract or pupillage arranged is irrelevant. References letters supporting your application are not considered and we do not conduct interviews for any of our applicants. We will rarely have regard to subsequent law qualifications unless your results in those are outstanding.
Applications are dealt with by our admissions panel and we make conditional offers at various stages. For instance, we will make early offers to applicants with outstanding academic merit. Therefore the earlier you apply the better. We may also place a number of applicants on a Waiting List and those applicants may be offered places (the decisions will be made in mid or late August 2026) if such are available. We will not disclose to applicants their position on the Waiting List as that is not a helpful indicator of their chance of securing a place in August, given that we have no means of predicting the number of places which may become available. If you are from the Chinese Mainland or another jurisdiction and are placed on the Waiting List, you must ensure you hold a valid visa for studying in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China so that you are able to take up a place if offered.
We will send rejection notification to those applicants whose law qualifications do not meet our entry standard.
Application Deadlines for 2026-27
30 April 2026
Programme Information
- Medium of Instruction: English
- Campus: The CUHK Graduate Law Centre, 2/F, Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central.
- Programme Duration: One year full-time
Delivery Mode
Students participate in large and small group sessions. All classes are highly participatory and students will receive regular individual feedback on their work. Assessment is continuous and includes exercises on writing, drafting and oral advocacy.
Study Options
The Programme is taught in two stages. In the first stage of the Programme you will study core practice areas and develop core skills. In the second stage you will choose from a wide range of electives that are designed to reflect the range of work undertaken by solicitors and barristers in practice.
The first twelve electives listed below will be taught over the course of term 2. The last elective, Trial Advocacy, will be taught intensively in the summer term.
It is possible that an elective may not be offered if it is selected by too few students.
Stage 1: The Compulsory Core courses
| LAWS5001 | Professional Practice | 3 units |
| LAWS5002 | Commercial Practice | 3 units |
| LAWS5003 | Property and Probate Practice | 3 units |
| LAWS5004 | Civil Litigation Practice | 3 units |
| LAWS5005 | Criminal Litigation Practice | 3 units |
Stage 2: The Elective courses. You must choose FIVE in total
| LAWS5011 | Writing & Drafting Litigation Documents* | 3 units |
| LAWS5013 | Lending & Finance | 3 units |
| LAWS5014 | Corporate Finance | 3 units |
| LAWS5016 | Writing & Drafting Litigation Documents (in Chinese) | 3 units |
| LAWS5017 | China Practice | 3 units |
| LAWS5018 | Writing & Drafting Commercial Documents (in Chinese) | 3 units |
| LAWS5019 | Alternative Dispute Resolution | 3 units |
| LAWS5021 | Writing and Drafting Commercial Documents | 3 units |
| LAWS5022 | Conference Skills and Opinion Writing* | 3 units |
| LAWS5023 | Personal Injuries Practice* | 3 units |
| LAWS5024 | Family Law Practice* | 3 units |
| LAWS5025 | Legal Practice and Technology | 3 units |
| LAWS5020 | Trial Advocacy* | 3 units |
* Bar Electives
Note: Students intending to join the Bar are required to take LAWS5020 and 2 out of the 4 Bar Electives (LAWS5011, 5022, 5023 and 5024).
Financial Information
Fees per academic year
UGC-funded places and Distinguished Scholarship places (for local students): HK$47,000
UGC-funded places and Distinguished Scholarship places (for non-local students): HK$214,000
Self-financed places: HK$242,000
(Subject to annual review)
Scholarships and Prizes:
- HKSAR Government Scholarships (for UGC-funded postgraduate students)
- Association of China-Appointed Attesting Officers Scholarships
- Dr. Lily Fenn Prizes for Legal Technologies
- Prize for Criminal Litigation Practice
- Sir Oswald Cheung Memorial Fund PCLL Scholarship
- The Boase Cohen & Collins Prize for Civil Litigation Practice
- The Cheng, Yeung & Co. Prize for Personal Injuries Practice
- The Hong Kong Bar Association Prize for Conference Skills and Opinion Writing
- The Hong Kong Bar Association Prize for Trial Advocacy
- The Law Society of Hong Kong Prize for Professional Practice
- The Robertsons Prize for Writing and Drafting Litigation Documents
Student housing:
Only UGC-funded students are eligible to apply for accommodation in Postgraduate Halls on the Shatin Campus. Please note that the PCLL is taught at the CUHK Graduate Law Centre in Central.
Career options include:
Solicitor
In- house Counsel
Barrister
Public Servant
Admission to practice
Students may be eligible to apply for admission as a Solicitor or Barrister of the High Court of the HKSAR after completing the PCLL and a training contract (2 years) or pupillage (1 year).
Further Study Options
Postgraduate studies for Master or PhD degrees
Additional learning & development opportunities
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know whether I meet the admission requirements of the PCLL?
Entry requirements were issued by the Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training and apply to all students seeking admission to study the PCLL in the HKSAR from September 2008 onwards. Please read in full the Standing Committee’s statement available at http://www.pcea.com.hk. If you have any further queries regarding your eligibility for PCLL admission please contact the Hong Kong Conversion Examination Board directly.
If my final academic results are not yet available, will I be able to obtain an admission offer?
Yes. CUHK LAW is able to make conditional offers to applicants who have not yet completed their law qualifications and will do so on the applicants’ academic merit known to the admissions panel as at 30 April 2026.
What weight, if any, will be given to a second law degree?
We will give most weight to your first law degree. If you have a second, better, law degree, we will take that into some account in the consideration of your application. The weight which we would give to the second degree would vary according to the respective academic merits of both degrees.
If I have not taken some of the conversion exams and/or the IELTS test am I eligible to apply for admission to the PCLL and obtain an admission offer?
Yes. We are able to make conditional offers to applicants whose conversion exam results and/or IELTS test result are still outstanding. Students are recommended to take the IELTS early as there may be a shortage of places available for this test. You must submit documentary proof of your IELTS results (academic module) from a test taken not earlier than 30 April 2023 at the IELTS test centre on or before the first Friday of August 2026, i.e. 7 August 2026, otherwise your application will not be considered further. No further extension on IELTS submission will be allowed.
Will offerees be allowed to defer an offer to the subsequent year?
No. Admission to the PCLL is founded primarily upon academic merit on a year-on-year basis. In line with this admission policy, we do not consider deferred admissions except in the most exceptional cases.
If I want to apply to all three PCLL providers do I need to apply to each of them directly?
Yes. You are required to submit a separate application to each of the providers.
Can I select more than one PCLL provider as my first preference?
No. Although you may apply to more than one PCLL provider, you must select only one PCLL provider as your first preference. At the close of the application period, all three PCLL providers exchange their lists of applicants who have made them their first preference. If you have made more than one PCLL provider your first choice, you will be disqualified by all providers from that year’s application process.
Are CUHK students given preference over other students?
No. We welcome students from other universities in the HKSAR and from overseas. We treat all applicants on the basis of their own merits.
I have obtained a training contract and can provide reference letters from my employers and tutors. Will submitting these assist my application?
No. The basis for admission to the PCLL is academic merit. The most important indicator of academic merit is your common law qualification. A limited number of PCLL places may be offered to candidates who have a law qualification and law-related full-time working experience (not including internships and mini-pupillages) of not less than two years’ continuous duration. Such working experience must be evidenced by supporting documents (See “3. Supporting Documents” in “Important Notes to Applicants”.).
Are applicants required to attend an interview as part of the application process?
No. Admission is based on your academic merit, which is determined with reference to academic records.
Do I need to state that I wish to apply for a UGC/Distinguished Scholarship Place when I submit my application?
No. You do not need to make a separate application for the award of a UGC or Distinguished Scholarship place. Students will be notified of any such awards as soon as possible during the admission process. In many cases this will only be after final results are known in August of the year of admission.
May I seek advice regarding the likelihood of admission before I submit my application or during the application process?
No. CUHK LAW will not provide you with advice about your likelihood of admission.
If I am admitted, will I be able to apply for postgraduate campus accommodation?
Because of keen competition, only UGC-funded students are eligible to apply for accommodation in Postgraduate Halls on the Shatin campus. Students may wish to note that the teaching site for the PCLL is at the CUHK Graduate Law Centre in Central.
Am I allowed to take up full-time employment during my PCLL studies?
No. According to the General Regulations Governing Postgraduate Studies, a student registered for a full-time programme of studies shall not take up any full-time employment, paid or unpaid, during term time except with permission of the Graduate Council. Since the PCLL is an intensive programme, CUHK LAW will not normally support applications for taking up full-time employment.
Contact Information
Address:
Faculty of Law
6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, New Territories
Hong Kong, China