The Early Admissions Scheme (EAS) was a subsystem of the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) developed by the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong. The scheme had been adopted between the academic year of 2002/03 to 2010/11. It enabled students who skipped the HKALE to enter the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong or the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Candidates who received 6 or more "A"s, attained level 4 or above in English Language and Chinese Language, or obtained "C" or above in French or Putonghua in the HKCEE, were eligible to take part in the scheme, which might grant them admission to the aforementioned institutions without requiring them to sit for the HKALE. Only 400-500 candidates were eligible to join the scheme annually throughout the implementation of the scheme. Most of them would be admitted to university after they graduated from Form 6. Others, who were studying Form 7 and going to take the HKALE, were usually those who either failed to enrol on their preferred programme via the scheme, or planned to study abroad as some overseas universities may not accept admission applications with HKCEE result only. Some students who were eligible to participate in the scheme, were once given an offer soon after the announcement of HKCEE results, thus allowing them to enter the university immediately rather than after completing Form 6. They were not classified as applicants of the scheme even though they were granted "Early Admissions", like other EAS applicants. Unlike the latter, those students were usually provided an extra year of bridging courses after they entered the university. After the last HKCEE, which was held in 2010, the scheme was officially abolished. The scheme By the number of actual intakes, the EAS is the biggest subsystem of JUPAS (roughly about 3-5% of total JUPAS intakes). It aims at providing flexibility to outstanding Secondary 6 students to be admitted to the three institutions participating in the scheme. Applicants must achieve the requirements in one sitting of the HKCEE or other qualifying examinations. Applicants will be invited to information sessions held by the three participating universities on specific dates in order to help them in choosing the universities and programmes. On submission, applicants may select up to three programmes per university, making it a total maximum of nine programmes. Applicants will then be invited to attend an interview