The University of Hong Kong has enrolled 16 students who achieved the highest scores in their provinces, municipalities or cities on the national college entrance exam in 2013, Beijing Times reported Thursday.

Altogether 303?excellent students from the mainland were admitted to the University of Hong Kong this year, out of 12,513 mainland applicants, which means one for every 41 applicants. The number of applications it received marks a record high, although the number of students who took the exam dropped for the fifth year in a row.

Among the applicants are students who won top prizes in the China National Olympiad, achieved level-10 piano certificates, the highest level among amateur players according to China's piano grading standard, and a national first-grade sportsman.

The University of Hong Kong provides scholarships for one-fourth of all the mainland students it enrolls, with full scholarships of up to HK$175,000 ($22,563) a year.

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