Combining Results From Separate Sittings of National Examinations for Admission Into Institutes of Higher Learning

Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Education (a) whether students are able to combine results from separate sittings of (i) GCE "O" level examinations when applying for admissions into educational institutions like polytechnics and junior colleges and (ii) GCE "A" level examinations when applying for admissions into universities; (b) whether the same arrangement will apply to the planned Secondary Education Certificate examinations from 2027; and (c) whether the same arrangements apply to international students.

Under the current Joint Admissions Exercise, applicants from the Ministry of Education (MOE) schools may combine results from two separate sittings of the GCE "O" level examination when applying for admission to junior colleges (JC), Millenia Institute (MI), polytechnics or the Institute of Technical Education. This arrangement will continue under the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate examinations from 2027.

For admission to autonomous universities, applicants from JCs and MI are required to use the results from their H2 content-based subjects and General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry subjects taken at the same sitting of the GCE "A" level examinations. They are allowed to combine these results with their results from Project Work, Mother Tongue Language and H1 content-based subjects from a separate sitting.

These arrangements and requirements apply to local and international students from MOE schools.