With a mission of providing high-quality, professional-oriented education to meet the changing needs of society, PolyU is committed to equipping students with professional competency and to maintaining a strong partnership with business, industry and the professions.

Our development can be divided into four main stages.

1937: Founding of the Government Trade School. Situated on Wood Road in Wanchai, the School was the first in Hong Kong to provide technical education at the post-secondary school level.
1947: The Trade School became the Hong Kong Technical College. The new premises of the College in Hung Hom were opened in 1957.
1972: The Hong Kong Polytechnic was established, taking over the campus of the Hong Kong Technical College.
1994: The Polytechnic acquired university status and was renamed The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Currently, we have about 13,900 full-time and part-time students enrolled in programmes that are funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC). In addition, about 12,400 self-financed students have enrolled in programmes leading to PolyU awards. Over the years, more than 260,000 graduates have found their places in various sectors of society, dedicating their knowledge and expertise to the development of Hong Kong.

Our graduates are extremely popular with employers, resulting in a consistently high employment rate over the years. According to four independent surveys conducted in 1994, 1999, 2003 and 2007, business and industry leaders agreed that our graduates have the highest practical value and consider our programmes to be practical and well designed for the professional development of students. In the 2007 survey, PolyU graduates were again regarded by recruiters as the most preferred graduates.