Policy and Pedagogical Reasons for Differing Score and Grade Benchmarks Used Across Education Stages

Mr David Hoe asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the passing grades and their corresponding mark bands in the "O" and "A" Levels examinations; and (b) what are the policy and pedagogical reasons for the differing score and grade benchmarks used across education stages, given that there is no reference to what constitutes a pass or fail for individual PSLE subjects.

The GCE O-Level examination uses a nine-point grading system, while the A-Level examination uses a seven-point grading system. Grades A1 to C6 for GCE O-Level and grades A to E for GCE A-Level are considered subject passes.

The pass grades in GCE O- and A-Level examinations indicate students' eligibility for post-secondary courses and enable Post-Secondary Education Institutions to make admission decisions on subject area specialisation. For example, students need to pass Mathematics to be eligible for courses, like engineering, at the polytechnics and universities.

The Primary School Leaving Examination's (PSLE's) Achievement Level (AL) grading system uses an eight-point grading system, AL1 to AL8. The PSLE is a placement examination where the results indicate which educational programme each student is ready for. Hence, the PSLE does not use a pass-fail nomenclature as there is a progression path for all students.