The first batch of students taking the new exam are those in Secondary 1 in 2024.
With the complete implementation of full subject-based banding (FSBB) in 2024, these students take subjects at different levels based on their strengths and interests.
With the SEC, they will sit the national examinations under one common timetable, with the written exams for English and mother tongue languages held in September and the written examinations for the rest of the subjects from October to November.
There will be only one written exam sitting for the mother tongue language (MTL) subject, instead of the current two.
The SEC exam results will be released in January the following year.
With FSBB, the polytechnic year 1 admission criteria from 2028 will also change to recognise learning at different subject levels.
Will the new SEC exam have the same format and rigour as the O- and N-level exam?
There will be no change to the examination format and standards, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Education (MOE).
The SEC examinations will continue to be jointly examined and awarded by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board, MOE and Cambridge International Education.
Students will receive a certificate that reflects the subjects and levels they were taken at.
Under FSBB, students take subjects at three levels, known as G1, G2 and G3, mapped from the previous Normal (Technical), Normal (Academic) and Express standards respectively.
The first cohort of graduating students in 2027 will take the SEC examinations at their respective subject levels.
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Will my child lose out if he can’t retake the MTL exam?
Currently, students can attempt their MTL exam twice, once in the middle of the year and the other towards the end of the year, during the O-level written exam period.
From 2027, students will have just one chance to take the exam, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, who announced the changes in Parliament on March 1.
He said that when MOE introduced the mid-year O-level MTL exam sitting in 1980, less than 40 per cent of students passed both their first and second languages.
The change was made then to allow students to take the exam twice, to meet the second-language requirement for pre-university.
Today, about 97 per cent of students meet the minimum MTL requirement of at least a D7 during the O-level mid-year examination, said MOE.
Mr Chan said that with the MTL written exams held in the second week of September, students and teachers would have four more months of learning.
The MOE spokesman added that over the years, there has been an increasing proportion of students whose first MTL sitting is their best attempt, while fewer have chosen to take the second sitting.
Furthermore, any grade improvement in the second sitting changed the post-secondary posting outcomes only for less than 2 per cent of the cohort who took the O-level MTL exams.
Students who do not meet the MTL progression criteria will continue to be granted provisional admission, on the condition that they meet the requirement at the end of year 1 in JC or year 2 in Millennia Institute.
With FSBB, there are more opportunities for students to customise their learning and offer subjects at a level more suited to their strengths, interests and learning needs, including for MTL, said the spokesman.
Why are there changes in the polytechnic year 1 admission criteria from 2028?
Under the current polytechnic admission criteria, students are required to offer five O-level (G3 equivalent) subjects.
The subjects include English Language, two relevant (R) subjects and two best (B) subjects, or more commonly known as the ELR2B2 aggregate score. This will continue to be used from 2028.
To recognise learning at the different subject levels, the polytechnic year 1 admission criteria will be changed when the first batch of students to sit the SEC exam enter a post-secondary institution in 2028.
By then, students can offer one “best” subject taken at either G2 or G3 level, with the remaining four subjects offered at G3 to ensure that they can cope with the academic rigour in the polytechnics.
With this change, all students will be assessed on a common benchmark of four G3 and one G2 subject instead of five G3 subjects.
Students who offer both “best” subjects at the G3 level will have the one with a lower grade mapped from G3 to G2.
As a result of the relaxation of one “best” subject from G3 to G2, the aggregate score into polytechnic year 1 will be revised from 26 to 22 points.
“The updated criteria will better recognise the different subject levels offered by students and provide options for different learner profiles, while ensuring that students have the foundational competencies to thrive in their chosen pathway,” said the MOE spokesman.
There is no change to the existing junior college admission criteria to ensure that students have the academic foundation to cope with the A-level curriculum.
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