Secondary education in Singapore

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Secondary education in Singapore is largely public, and is compulsory until a child has reached 16 years of age.^[1] At the end of public primary education, Singapore students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and are placed into the different streams and secondary schools based on their results. There are three main public secondary education streams: Express (E)(Currently known as G3), Normal (Academic) (N(A)) (Currently known as G2), and Normal (Technical) (N(T)) (Currently known as G1), with special and private education courses also being available.^[2][3] The Express stream has a more stringent cut-off than the Normal (Academic) stream, which is in turn more selective than the Normal (Technical) stream.^[3] Secondary students can move between streams based on their academic performance.^[4][5]

The Express stream is a four-year course leading to the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level (O-level) examinations, while the Normal streams are four-year courses leading to the Normal Level (N-level) examinations. N(A) students take the N(A) examinations, which allows them to apply for local polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education (ITE).^[4] After their N(A)-levels, students may also choose to remain in secondary education for an additional year as a secondary five student to study for the O-levels, which allows students to enter junior colleges and the Millennia Institute.^[4] N(T) students take the N(T) examinations, which allows students to apply to the ITEs.^[5] After their N(T)-levels, students may choose to transfer to the N(A) stream to study an additional year for the N(A) examinations.^[5]

From 2024, all incoming Secondary 1 students will be taking subjects based on the Subject-Based Banding format, with Secondary 4/5 students in 2025 being the last batch for streaming. Streaming will be abolished by 2025.