Education System in Singapore

A child in Singapore undergoes six years of compulsory primary education, comprising a four-year foundation stage from Primary 1 to 4 and a two-year orientation stage from Primary 5 to 6.

At the foundation stage, the core curriculum comprising English, the mother tongue and Mathematics are taught, with supplementary subjects such as Music, Art & Craft, Physical Education and Social Studies.

Science is included from Primary 3.  To maximize their potential, students are streamed according to their learning ability before advancing to the orientation stage.  At the end of Primary 6, students sit for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

Singapore's primary school curriculum has been used as a model internationally, especially its teaching methods in mathematics. Foreign students are accepted at primary schools subject to availability of vacancies.

Secondary Schools in Singapore

Secondary Schools in Singapore can be government funded, government aided or independent. Students attend four or five years of secondary education under the Special, Express or Normal Course.  The Special and Express Courses prepare students for the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'Ordinary' (GCE 'O') Level examination in four years. 

Students in the Normal Course can opt for the Academic or Technical stream, both of which prepare students for the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'Normal' (GCE 'N') Level examination after four years of study and upon satisfactory completion, the GCE 'O' Level examination in the fifth year.

Secondary education curriculum includes English, the Mother Tongue, Mathematics, Science and the Humanities.  At Secondary 3, students can opt for electives of their choice, depending on whether they are in the Arts, Science, Commerce or Technical stream.

Singapore's secondary school curriculum is recognized worldwide for its ability to develop students with critical thinking and intellectual skills. Foreign students are accepted at secondary schools subject to availability of vacancies.

Two private academic institutions in Singapore also offer international students a unique and alternative opportunity to pursue their primary, secondary and post-secondary education. San Yu Adventist School operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Mission (Singapore), provides primary, secondary and post-secondary education to students of diverse culture and nationalities.

St. Francis Methodist School is affiliated to the family of Methodist Schools in Singapore and offers secondary and post-secondary courses to local and international students. Both schools are registered with the Ministry of Education and offer their students an academic curriculum that is flexible, broad-based yet rigorous.

Junior Colleges / Pre-Universities in Singapore

Upon completion of the GCE 'O' Level (General Certificate of Education ‘Ordinary’) examination, students may apply for entry to a junior college for a two-year pre-university course or a centralized institute for a three-year pre-university course.

Junior colleges and centralized institutes prepare students for their entry to the university and lay the foundation for tertiary education.

The curriculum of junior colleges comprises two compulsory subjects, namely General Paper and the Mother Tongue, and a maximum of four Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'Advanced' GCE 'A' Level subjects from the Arts, Science or Commerce Courses.  At the end of the pre-university course, students sit for the GCE 'A' Level examination.

Foreign students are accepted at Junior Colleges and Pre-Universities subject to the availability of vacancies.

Universities in Singapore

There are three local universities in Singapore.They are:

• National University of Singapore (NUS)
• Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
• Singapore Management University (SMU)

They mold outstanding graduates with internationally recognized degrees. Research and scholarship opportunities are also available to post-graduate students at the three universities.

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Since its founding in 1905, NUS has since evolved into a comprehensive university offering courses in major disciplines such as the Sciences, Engineering, Technology, Law, Arts & Social Sciences and Medicine.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) - NTU was set up in 1981 to provide facilities for tertiary education and research in engineering and technology. It has since incorporated the National Institute of Education (NIE) "the teachers' college" and expanded to include Accountancy, Business and Communication Studies.

Singapore Management University (SMU) - SMU was established in 2000 as the first publicly-funded private university with a focus on business and management programmes.

International Universities in Singapore

In addition to local universities, many of the world's leading foreign universities have also established their presence in Singapore. These leading foreign universities have either set up a physical campus (institutes of higher learning) or have joint collaborations/programmes with local universities (local tie-ups).

Some leading international institutions with Asian campuses located in Singapore are:

• INSEAD Business School
• University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
• Duke University
• SP Jain Centre of Management
• ESSEC Business School
• Digipen Institute of Technology
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)
• New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Asia

Leading international universities that have collaborations with universities in Singapore are:

• John Hopkins University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
• Design Technology Institute
• German Institute of Science & Technology
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University
• Stanford University
• Waseda University
• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
• New York University School of Law
• Cornell University

In addition, the country's local universities, the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University also have joint programmes with more than 16 other institutions around the world.

Some of these include:

• University of St. Gallen (Switzerland)
• Beijing University for Chinese Medicine, ESIEE (France)
• Australian National University
• University of Melbourne (Australia)
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA)
• UCLA Anderson School of Management (USA)
• Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité (Supelec) (France)
• Peking University (China)
• Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)
• University of Basel (Switzerland)
• Technical University of Denmark
• King's College London
• Tsinghua University (China)
• Université Pierre Et Marie Curie
• Université Paris Sud
• French Grandes écoles

There are also foreign specialized institutes in Singapore that have either set up campuses in the country or have tie ups with the local polytechnics. These enable polytechnic students to pursue a degree in related courses after they have completed their diplomas at the polytechnics.

Grading/Marking System in Singapore

The grading system in Singapore depends upon the type of the institution and the level of studies. At the primary, secondary and junior college level, local system is generally preferred.

Singapore-Cambridge GCE "O" Level Examination

Grade	Grade Description	US Grade
A1	Distinction	A+
A2	Distinction	A
A	Distinction	A
B3	Merit	B+
B4	Merit	B
B	Merit	B
C5	Credit	C+
C6	Credit	C
C	Credit	C
D7	Sub-Pass/Fail	D
D	Sub-Pass/Fail	D
E8	Fail	F
E9	Fail	F

Secondary 9-point

Grade	Scale	Scale 2	US Grade
A1	1.00 - 1.99	75.00 - 100.00	A+
A2	2.00 - 2.99	70.00 - 74.99	A
B3	3.00 - 3.99	65.00 - 69.99	B+
B4	4.00 - 4.99	60.00 - 64.99	B
C5	5.00 - 5.99	55.00 - 59.99	C+
C6	6.00 - 6.99	50.00 - 54.99	C
D7	7.00 - 7.99	45.00 - 49.99	D
E8	8.00 - 8.99	40.00 - 44.99	F
F9	9.00	0.00 - 39.99	F

Secondary Letter Grade

A minimum GPA of 2.0 is usually required for promotion

Grade	Scale	US Grade
A+	80.00 - 100.00	A+
A	70.00 - 79.99	A
B+	65.00 - 69.99	B+
B	60.00 - 64.99	B
C+	55.00 - 59.99	C+
C	50.00 - 54.99	C
D	50.00 - 54.99	D
E	40.00 - 44.99	F
F	0.00 - 39.99	F

Junior College

Grade	Scale	Grade	US Grade	Notes
A	70.00-100.00		A
B	60.00-69.99		B
C	55.00-59.99		C+
D	50.00-54.99		C
E	45.00-49.99	Passing Grade	C-
O	35.00-44.99	Conditional Pass	D	Denotes standard is at AO level only), grade N in the British A Levels
F	00.00-34.99	Fail	F

Most Common

Grade	Scale	Grade Description	US Grade
A+	95.00 - 100.00	Distinction	A+
AD	95.00 - 100.00	Distinction	A+
A	90.00 - 94.00	Excellent	A
A-	80.00 - 89.00		A-
B+	75.00 - 79.00	Very Good	B+
B	70.00 - 74.00		B
C	65.00 - 69.00	Good	C+
C+	60.00 - 64.00		C
D	55.00 - 59.00	Pass	C-
D+	50.00 - 54.00		D
F	0.00 - 53.00	Fail	F

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma

A student's examination performance in individual subjects is scored on a scale of 1–7 points with a further 3 points available based on a matrix of performance in the theory of knowledge (TOK) and the extended essay components. Students who display satisfactory levels of performance across all subject areas and achieve a minimum of 24 points (out of a possible 45) are awarded the IB diploma. All others receive a certificate of results for the subjects examined.

Grade	Grade Description	US Grade
7	Excellent	A
6	Very Good	A
5	Good	B
4	Satisfactory	C
3	Mediocre	D
2	Poor	F
1	Very Poor	F
N	No grade

University Level

Grade	Scale	Grade Description	US Grade
I	70.00 - 100.00	First Class Honours	A
II	60.00 - 69.99	Second Class Honours, First Division	A-/B+
II	50.00 - 59.99	Second Class Honours, Second Division	B
III	40.00 - 49.99	Third Class Honours	C
	0.00 - 39.99		F

Polytechnic

Grade	Scale	Grade Description	US Grade	Notes
AD	95.00 - 100.00	Distinction	A+	Top 5% score in the subject
A	80.00 - 94.99	Excellent	A
B+	75.00 - 79.99	Very good	A-
B	70.00 - 74.99	Good	B+
C+	65.00 - 69.99	Above Average	B
C	60.00 - 64.99	Average	B-
D+	55.00 - 59.99	Pass	C
D	50.00 - 54.99	Borderline pass	C-
F	0.00 - 49.99	Fail	F