Singapore Education System

Singapore's education system is quite complex and very similar to the British education system. It was reformed on the basis of the British education system. After the reform, it is now a branch-type system with English as the basic teaching language. Singapore's education is divided into three stages: primary education, secondary education and higher education.

1. Primary education

The Singapore Education Act stipulates: "The purpose of primary education is to enable students to master a certain level of English, mathematics and mother tongue, and to provide education according to the different abilities of each student."

1. Basic stage (Primary 1 to Primary 4)

Primary 1 to Primary 4 is the foundation stage, the purpose is to lay a solid foundation for students in English, mother tongue and mathematics. The admission age is six years old.

2. Orientation stage (Primary 5 to Primary 6)

Primary 5 and Primary 6 are the orientation stages, where students will be assigned to one of the three main language streams. First language stream: English as the first language, mother tongue (such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil) as the first language; second language stream: English as the first language, mother tongue as the second language; third language stream: English as the first language, mother tongue as a proficient spoken language. This directional diversion method not only ensures that students with excellent language skills receive first-class English and mother tongue education, but also provides appropriate language education to a small number of students with weaker language skills, thus achieving the purpose of reducing students' academic burden and enabling them to concentrate on studying other subjects such as mathematics.

2. Secondary education

The system of secondary education in Singapore is four and five years. During the secondary education stage, students enter three courses according to their abilities and interests: special classes, fast-track classes and ordinary classes. Students with stronger abilities can enter the four-year special and fast-track courses, while the rest of the students enter the ordinary courses from grade 4 to grade 5.

1. Special classes

Special classes teach English and mother tongue at the first language level and only accept students with excellent results in the Primary School Leaving Examination. The special course is a four-year course, and students can study advanced mother tongue, and either advanced mother tongue or English can be the first language. After completing the four-year course, students pass the ordinary level, that is, GCE "O" level education, and can apply to enter junior colleges, senior high schools and secondary schools with university elective classes to study university preparatory courses.

2. Express Class

The express course lasts for four years. Students can only take the express mother tongue course. Other courses are the same as the special course, with English as the first language. Students who enter this course aim to pass the GCE "O" level examination in four years of study. After passing the GCE "O" level examination, students mainly enter junior colleges and begin a two-year university preparatory education.

3. Ordinary Class

(1) Ordinary Academic Course
The ordinary academic course lasts for five years. Students take the Cambridge N-level examination in the fourth year. After passing it, they can take the fifth year course and then take the Cambridge Ordinary Diploma examination together with the special/express course students.

(2) General Technical Courses
General Technical Courses have a four-year/five-year duration. Students have two main subjects, English and Mathematics. In the fourth year, they take the Cambridge N-level examination. Most students do not take the fifth-year course after the N-level examination, but directly enter the technical college. Capable students can also choose to enter the fifth year of secondary school and take the GCE "O" level education.

III. Higher Education

Higher education in Singapore is mainly divided into four levels: Institute of Technical Education, Polytechnic, University and Private Colleges.

1. Institute of Technical Education

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) has a two-year duration. Upon graduation, students will receive the National ITE Certificate. After that, graduates will enter the job market. Students with excellent academic performance can be promoted to polytechnics.

2. Singapore Polytechnic (Polytechnics)

Singapore Polytechnic offers a three-year college course. After completing this course, students have the opportunity to enter university. After graduation, students can obtain a diploma (Diploma) and then enter the workplace. Students with excellent academic performance can continue to study for a bachelor's degree in university.

3. Public universities in Singapore

Except for majors such as medicine, law, and engineering, the university system in Singapore is the same as that in Australia and New Zealand. Generally, it only takes 3 years to obtain an ordinary degree, and it usually takes 4 years to obtain an honors degree.

4. Private universities in Singapore

There are also many private institutions that operate independently in Singapore. In Singapore, there are two quality assurance agencies that ensure that private institutions meet student welfare and management standards, namely the Case Trust for Education and the Singapore Quality Class for Private Education Organization (SQC-PEO).

Other educational courses

1. Through-train courses

Through-train courses, also known as integrated courses, allow students with excellent academic performance to take a 6-year course, skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'O' Level, and directly take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'A' Level or equivalent diploma after 6 years of education.

2. Pre-University Centres

There are two types of Pre-University Centres in Singapore: Junior Colleges and Centralised Institutes. Junior College and Centralised Institute students can choose two types of courses: science and arts. All students must take 3 Cambridge Advanced Diploma subjects (H1) and 3-4 Cambridge Advanced Diploma subjects (H2). Students with stronger learning abilities can choose to take H3 subjects under the recommendation of the college. H3 subjects are the advanced subjects of the students' own electives, and are more difficult and advanced. After two or three years, students will eventually take the Cambridge Advanced Diploma Examination (GCE 'A' Level) and enter university with the Cambridge Advanced Certificate.

Undergraduate education in Singapore

It takes about 3-4 years for full-time undergraduate students in Singapore to complete a bachelor's degree. Students can take courses in general subject areas, such as Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or study more specific directions in these fields, such as Bachelor of Science (Business Analytics). Students who study courses in general subject areas must choose a direction to specialize in this field. This direction is also called a "major", and students need to complete a certain number of subjects before they can obtain the corresponding degree. Some courses also allow students to complete a second direction in the same field, but the required number of subjects will be lower, which is called a "minor".

Graduate and doctoral education in Singapore

In Singapore, full-time master's programs usually take 2 years to complete and obtain a master's degree, while doctoral degrees range from 2 to 5 years.

Semester Schedule of Singapore Universities

The standard university academic year in Singapore is divided into two semesters. The first semester usually runs from mid-August to early December, and the second semester runs from mid-January to the end of April.