Yau Ting Fai graduated from the School of Drama, HK Academy for Performing Arts, major in Acting. During his secondary school years, he received a scholarship to study drama in England. He played in over 10 Academy productions and was awarded the Outstanding Actor for his work of Charly in Flower for Algernon and for Harold in Father's Day. He was also nominated the Best Actor (Tragedy/Drama) at the 10th Hong Kong Drama Awards in 2001 for Charly in Flower for Algernon.

He was the recipient of several scholarships in the Academy, including Chung Pu Memorial Scholarship (98-99 and 99-00), HSBC China Exchange Program Scholarship (99-00) and The Hongkong Society of Pediatric Respiratory Award (00-01).

After graduation, Yau played in Dark Tales (Spring-time Stage) , The No.1 Restaurant(Spring-time Experimental Theatre) and Six Dynasties of Love (HK Chinese Orchestra).

He joined the HKRep as a full time actor in 2001, and played in the outreach and education touring productions Up Into The Sky, Beneath The Boundary Tree , Robin Hood ¡V Wrong Version , New Loong Mun Inn and No Charcoaling which he was also the playwright. His other acting credits include A Dream Like A Dream, The Eccentricities Of A Nightingale, Let Me Love Once, Haunted, Haunted Little Star, A Night in the Kitchen, Cabaret, February 14 and Vassa Zheleznova. In 2005, he also took part in the director and performance for (Rep 2 Series) those were the days.