What are the eligibility criteria to claim reimbursement of course fee under Continuing Education Fund?

Applicants who fulfill all of the following eligibility criteria can submit the application for both account opening and fee reimbursement after successful completion of a Continuing Education Fund (CEF) Reimbursable Course within one year upon the successful completion of the course:

1. Are 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 the Mainland China;
2. Aged 18 or above at the time when the CEF reimbursable course commences (note: for course which commenced from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2022, applicants should be aged between 18 and 70 both at the time when the CEF reimbursable course commences and at the time when a reimbursement application is submitted. The applicant must submit the application to the Office of the Continuing Education Fund (OCEF) before reaching the age of 71. The date of receipt of the application by OCEF will be regarded as the submission date of the application.)        
3. have successfully completed the whole “Reimbursable Course”. “Successful completion” of a course means that the applicant must have attended no less than 70% of the contactable hours of the CEF reimbursable course or such higher attendance requirement as prescribed for the CEF reimbursable course (whichever is higher) and attained an overall mark of either 50% or such higher percentage of assessment(s) as prescribed for the CEF reimbursable course (whichever is higher) as assessed by whichever method approved by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare. 
   Applicants studying language proficiency courses are required to pass a specified benchmark test (if applicable) at the specified (or higher) level to be eligible for fee reimbursement. Benchmark tests should be taken by the applicant after the course has commenced (please visit the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (WFSFAA) website “Reimbursable Course Search Engine” for the required language benchmark examination pegged to the language course.);
4. have not obtained the maximum subsidy of $25,000 (note: for course which commenced from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2022, the applicants have not obtained the maximum subsidy of $20,000); and
5. must not have obtained any other public funds or assistance under any other publicly-funded financial assistance schemes for the same course (if loans are obtained from the Extended Non-means-tested Loan Scheme administered by WFSFAA to meet the payment of fees for a CEF reimbursable course, the fees are still eligible for reimbursement subject to other eligibility criteria being met).

If you fulfill the above criteria, please click here to read the reimbursement procedures, required documents and processing time for CEF.