ECG Updates S1 and S2

ECG Updates S1 and S2

Pathways for FSBB (Sec 1 and 2)

KEY POINTS TO NOTE

  • Generally, all students will progress to the next level of learning (i.e. from Sec 1 to Sec 2, and from Sec 2 to Sec 3) at the end of each year.

  • Students may remain in their current level for another year if they:

    • have frequent or long-term absenteeism from school, or

    • return from Leave of Absence (LOA) or from overseas and require more time to bridge learning gaps

    and demonstrate that they will be unable to cope with the next level of learning.

    At the end of Sec 2 and Sec 3, students who are unable to cope with their current academic demands will have their curricular load recalibrated for students to better cope with the academic demands in the interests of their well-being.

OVERVIEW OF FSBB EXPERIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL

PROGRESSION OF FSBB STUDENTS FROM SECONDARY 1 TO 2

Category

Criteria

Students who will be offered certain subjects at MDL in the following year

Attain ≥75% for the specific subject in one or more of the following subjects at the end of Sec 1 or 2:

  • English Language

  • Mathematics

  • Science

  • Mother Tongue Languages

  • Geography

  • History

  • Literature in English

Attain Distinction in G1 Humanities and ≥75% for G1 English or ≥50% for G2 English to be offered one of the following at G2 level in Sec 1 or 2:

  • Geography

  • History

  • Literature in English

Students who will be offered all subjects at MDL

Eligible to take (≥75% for the specific subject) or already take (≥50% for the specific subject) at least 3 subjects at MDL, of which:

  • At least 2 subjects are from English, Mathematics and Science

  • ≥50% for the rest of the subjects

FSBB STUDENTS AT SECONDARY 4

Before Full SBB

With Full SBB

Students sit for the GCE O- and N-Level examinations

Students sit for the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examinations, which will reflect the subjects and subject levels that students offer

  • From 2027, students will sit for the new SEC examinations, comprising different papers for each subject level

  • SEC examination timetable will be harmonised to allow students to better pace their learning with all students taking their examinations in the same period

  • Written examinations for English and Mother Tongue Language (MTL) will be conducted ~1 month ahead of other subjects, with only one sitting for MTL

POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS FOR FSBB STUDENTS

ELIGIBILITY FOR 5TH YEAR

Student profile

Subject level for subjects taken in 5th year

Sec 4 students offering mostly G2 subjects, progressing to 5th year to offer mostly G3 subjects

Can upgrade all subjects to G3 if ELMAB3 ≤ 19

Sec 4 or 5th year students offering mostly G3 subjects

Repeat subjects at same subject level

Sec 4 students offering mostly G2 subjects

Repeat subjects at same subject level

  • Exercise professional judgement to determine the number of subjects and subject levels offered to students on a case-by-case basis

  • Students can offer elective subjects at a less demanding level or not offer them in their 5th year

  • Students can offer compulsory subjects at a less demanding level under extenuating circumstances

Downward Grade Mapping:

  • Use grade mapping to aggregate scores across subjects offered at different subject levels for post-secondary progression

  • Note: This mapping process is known as downward grade mapping, as G3 grades are mapped down to G2 grades, and G2 grades are mapped down to G1 grades.

ADMISSIONS TO JC/MI

The JC/MI admission criteria will be retained at L1R5 ≤ 20 and L1R4 ≤ 20 respectively, computed with G3 subjects, to ensure that students are right-sited to cope with the academic rigour of the A-Level pathway

Subject requirements for English Language and Mathematics will be retained but revised for Mother Tongue Languages with the discontinuation of Mother Tongue Language ‘B’.

Subject specific requirements for JC/MI

Subject

Grade

English Language

1-6 at G3

Mathematics (Elementary/Additional)

1-7 at G3

Any one Mother Tongue Language

Higher Mother Tongue Language:

1-8 at G3

Mother Tongue Language:

1-7 at G3; 1-5 at G2; A-D at G1

No further changes to other aspects of the JC/MI admission criteria (e.g., bonus points and conditional admission criteria)

ADMISSIONS TO PFP

For the ELMAB3 admission criteria, the minimum grade requirement of two ‘Best’ subjects has been relaxed from G2 Grade 3 to Grade 4

Entry requirements such as the ELMAB3 raw aggregate score of ≤ 12 points, and the subject requirements for English Language, Mathematics and ‘Relevant’ subjects, will be retained.

Subject specific requirements for PFP

G2 subjects

New grade requirement

English Language

2 or 3 (depending on course)

Mathematics

3

Relevant Subject

3

Two “Best” Subjects

4

Sec 4 students in the N(A) stream who offer GCE O-Level examination subjects will use the revised grade conversion table for computation of their ELMAB3 aggregates.

Admissions will be restructured to a cluster-based approach.

Students will explore their interests within a chosen cluster before deciding on a specific diploma course to pursue based on their interest and PFP performance:

  • Sciences

  • Design, Engineering & Technology*

  • Humanities, Art, Media and Business

  • Students seeking admission to Nursing and Early Childhood Development & Education courses will continue to be admitted to these specific diplomas in their PFP, as these courses are more specialised

Students offering G3 subjects, or a mix of G2 and G3 subjects will be allowed to access PFP. There will be no further change to the admissions criteria.

* NYP and TP will also offer a ‘Design sub-cluster’ as their design courses are more specialised, while the other polytechnics (NP, RP and SP) will offer design as part of the ‘Design, Engineering & Technology cluster’.

ADMISSIONS TO POLYTECHNIC YEAR 1

From 2028, one ‘Best’ [B] subject can be fulfilled at G2 or G3 as part of the aggregate score for admission to Polytechnic Year 1

  • Students who offer both [B] subjects at G3 will have the [B] subject with a lower grade mapped from G3 to G2 based on a grade mapping table. 

  • Correspondingly, the net aggregate cut-off will be adjusted from 26 points to 22 points.

ADMISSION TO ITE

ENHANCEMENTS IN ITE CURRICULAR STRUCTURE

By AY2026, ITE will transition all its Nitec courses to the enhanced three-year curricular structure leading directly to a Higher Nitec certification. ITE adopted a phased implementation approach which started from the AY2022 intake.

Under the enhanced curricular structure, the Nitec and Higher Nitec curricula will be streamlined by removing overlapping competencies between related Nitec and Higher Nitec courses

  • In Year 1, students will undertake broad-based foundation courses exposing them to fundamental skills needed for the relevant industry sector

  • In Years 2 and 3, they will take more specialised modules, leading to a Higher Nitec certification

  • Students are also exposed to two linked industry attachments (IA): a three-month IA in Year 2 and a six-month IA in Year 3, with the latter building on the learning outcomes and workplace competencies of the former

RETIREMENT OF THE DIRECT-ENTRY SCHEME TO POLYTECHNIC PROGRAMME (DPP) IN ITE CURRICULAR STRUCTURE

To align the removal of stream labels under Full SBB, the DPP pathway will accept its final intake in AY2027 (i.e. 2026 S4 cohort).

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR DIRECT ENTRY INTO YEAR 2 FOR ALL HIGHER NITEC COURSES WILL BE SET AT G2:

  1. With the removal of stream labels under Full SBB, admission requirements for direct entry into Year 2 for all Higher NITEC courses will be set at G2 from 2027 S4 cohort (i.e. AY2028 ITE intake).

  2. Students who obtain an ELMAB3 aggregate score of 19 points* or better may seek direct entry into Year 2 of Higher NITEC.

  3. This aggregate is pegged to the current eligibility criteria for DPP; ensures that all students are able to cope with the academic rigour of an accelerated pathway in ITE.

  4. For those taking a combination of G3 and G2 subjects, G3 subjects will be mapped to G2 for the computation of the aggregate score.

POLY PROGRESSION GUARANTEE FOR ALL HIGHER NITEC GRADUATES WITH RAW GPA OF 3.5 AND ABOVE:

  1. Under the DPP, only Normal (Academic) students could benefit from the poly progression guarantee if they met the MERs.

  2. From the AY2027 poly intake, poly admission will be guaranteed to all Higher NITEC students with a minimum raw GPA of 3.5.

  3. Top 10% (~1,000) of Higher NITEC graduates across all courses will be guaranteed a place in a polytechnic diploma mapped to their ITE course.

  4. Those who wish to progress to an unmapped course can seek admission through the Early Admissions Exercise.

REVIEW GPA ELIGIBILITY TO POLY FROM NET 2.0 TO NET 2.5 FOR HIGHER NITEC GRADUATES:

  1. Today, most Higher NITEC students who progress to polys attain a net GPA of 2.5 and above.

  2. To better reflect the current progression GPA while ensuring students can better cope with the academic rigour of a poly education, besides poly diploma, all ITE graduates can choose to pursue the Work-Study Diplomas (WSDips) or Technical Diplomas (TDs) pathways, which offer hands-on, apprenticeship-based training.

SECONDARY 3 TO 5

OVERVIEW OF POST-SEC PATHWAYS AVAILABLE AFTER N/O LEVELS

2025 JAE Booklet: https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/2025-jae/2025-jae-courses.pdf

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUNIOR COLLEGE VS POLYTECHNICS

ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR O-LEVEL STUDENTS

JUNIOR COLLEGE (JC) & MILLENIA INSTITUTE (MI)

Understanding JC/MI Subjects

POLYTECHNICS

INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION (ITES)

ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR N-LEVEL STUDENTS

NA STUDENTS

DIRECT ENTRY SCHEME TO POLYTECHNIC PROGRAMME (DPP)

  • Caters to Secondary 4 NA students of the preceding cohort

  • Enrol in a 2-year Higher Nitec course at ITE, subsequently be assured of a place in a related polytechnic course, provided you meet qualifying GPA in your 2-year Higher Nitec course.

  • Qualifying Criteria for DPP: <19 points for raw ELMAB3 aggregate score (i.e. EL, Math and best 3 subjects, excl. CCA bonus points) and meets MER of the respective courses

  • For admission to DPP courses, the ideal aggregate to aim towards to is ≤15 to allow wider options for consideration.

  • Link for more information: https://www.ite.edu.sg/admissions/full-time-courses/higher-nitec-dpp

NT STUDENTS

COMPUTATION OF BONUS POINTS

APTITUDE-BASED ADMISSIONS

DSA & EAE – PROCESS & TIMELINE

FOR PARENTS TO ENGAGE THEIR CHILDREN

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