A top university in Hong Kong has said it rejected “several hundred” admission applications over suspicions they used fraudulent qualifications and stepped up its vetting process with the help of technology such as artificial intelligence.

The cases included applicants submitting academic qualifications of secondary schools they did not attend or listing names of institutions that did not exist.

“I am not trying to use a number to scare you, but we have actually barred several hundred applications which we suspected of using fraudulent qualifications in the 2025 admission intake,” he said.

The applicants came from different regions but Wong did not disclose them.

As the university planned to gradually increase its number of non-local students, the admissions office had a gatekeeping role to detect and reject every case involving fraudulent qualifications, Wong said, adding the vetting had become the top priority of his office.