Professional Diploma Subsidy Scheme for Health and Care Practitioner (2026 - 29)

Introduction

The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has set up a three-year “Professional Diploma Subsidy Scheme for Health and Care Practitioner” (the Subsidy Scheme) in 2026-27 to subsidise eligible serving health workers (HWs) of residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities (collectively referred as RCHs) to enrol in approved “ Professional Diploma Programme for Health and Care Practitioners” (the PD Programme) by SWD in order to nurture specialised care professionals for the welfare sector and to offer promotion and career prospects for HWs. 

Eligibility and Requirements

RCH staff shall meet the following requirements to apply for the subsidy —

1. serving registered HW and working as HW in RCH for not less than three years, meeting the entry requirement of the PD Programme and with support from the RCHs;
2. being accepted by a training institute to enrol in and complete the PD Programme recognised by SWD and achieving a passing grade for graduation; and
3. undertaking to take up a full-time employment as health and care practitioner in RCHs or a unit providing elderly services or rehabilitation services recognised by SWD for a continuous period of no less than two years.  Otherwise, repayment of respective subsidy is required.

Subsidy Coverage

The subsidy provided by SWD includes (i) full tuition fee (ceiling at $80,000) ; (ii) training allowance to RCH ($40,000 per trainee) to facilitate deployment of substitute manpower during the practicum to maintain the RCH operation; and (iii) course fee for the two refresher courses recognised by SWD in the succeeding two years after graduation.  Eligible applicants can only benefit from the Subsidy Scheme once. Trainees shall pay an advance tuition fee at $24,000 for Phase I of the PD Programme.  Upon completion of Phase I, SWD will pay the tuition fee at $56,000 at maximum in Phase II.  The trainees will be refunded the tuition fee paid in Phase I after graduation.  Please refer to paragraph 4 to 12 of the Guidance Notes (Operators and Staff of RCHs) (Chinese version only) for details.    

Application for the Subsidy Scheme

Please read the following Guidance Notes on the Subsidy Scheme for Operators and Staff of RCHs carefully, and submit the application through training institutes. 

Relevant forms and documents are as follows – 

Approved Programme and List of Training Institutes

The PD Programme will normally last for around 12 months, including face-to-face teaching, practicum and assessment.  The entry academic requirements are as follows—

1. holding Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination results: having completed Secondary Five curriculum or equivalent¹; or
2. holding Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination results: having acquired Level 2 or above in five subjects, including Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and any two other subjects in Category A (Core/Elective Subjects) and Category B (Applied Learning Subjects)², or equivalent¹.

^{1: Applicants holding qualifications awarded by granting bodies outside Hong Kong are required to provide proof of academic qualification upon request by training institutes or report through qualifications assessment issued by Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, in order to prove that his/her educational qualification meets the entry academic requirement of the PD Programme.} 

^{2: "Attained" results in Category B (Applied Learning Subjects) will be considered as having acquired Level 2 in Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination.}

Details of the PD Programme approved by SWD are as follows.  For further enquiries regarding course enrolment or course content, please contact the respective training institutes direct.

Application for Organising Approved Professional Diploma Programme for Health and Care Practitioners 

SWD has formulated the curriculum of the PD Programme with reference from the recommendations by the consultancy study on “Skill and Qualification Requirements of Residential Care Home Staff providing Health and Rehabilitation Services in Hong Kong”.  The curriculum covers the “Specification of Competency Standards” of elderly care industry under the Qualifications Framework.  Training institutes intended to offer the PD Programme must be qualified to offer Qualifications Framework (QF) Level 5 programmes with their PD Programme meeting the requirement of the respective “Specification of Competency Standards” of elderly care industry under the Qualifications Framework, and accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (except those PD Programmes accredited through the internal vetting mechanism of self-accrediting institutions), proving the PD Programme is recognised as QF Level 4 prior to making an application of organising the PD Programme to SWD for approval.
Training institute intended to organise the PD Programme may make an application to the Development Section of the Licensing and Regulation Branch of SWD.  Please refer to the following Course Content and Related Requirements of the PD Programme and Guidance Notes on the Subsidy Scheme for Training Institutes for details.

Enquiry

For enquiry, please contact the Development Section of the Licensing and Regulation Branch of SWD during office hours.