19 Mar 2008
PRESS RELEASE
19 March 2008
Centralised Admissions Exercise for International Students
1. Currently, international students seeking admission to public schools have to apply directly to the schools they are interested in. Most apply to more than one school to increase their chance of admission and are often required to sit for different admission tests by the schools they are applying to.
2. To simplify school applications by international students, MOE intends to hold a centralised admissions exercise annually.
3. The first centralised exercise will be for new international students seeking admission to our schools in 2009, and will involve a centralised test that is tentatively scheduled to be held in September/October 2008. Applicants who pass the test would be offered a place in a suitable school for the academic year starting Jan 2009, based on their test performance and available school vacancies. Singaporean students participating in various posting exercises will continue to enjoy priority in admission over new international students.
4. The exercise would be for new international students seeking admission into Primary 2-5 and Secondary 1-3 levels. Our schools generally do not admit
international students directly into Primary 6 and Secondary 4 as it would not be in the interest of international students to be admitted during these critical examination years.
5. The centralised test would comprise English and Mathematics papers that would assess the applicants' English literacy, numeracy and reasoning abilities. International students who wish to take part are encouraged to prepare themselves well before the centralised test. They can refer to the following website for the syllabi of the various school levels:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/cpdd/syllabuses.htm
2008 School Admission
6. There is no change for international students seeking school admission in 2008. They can approach any school directly to be considered for admission into the 2008 academic year.
More information
7. Further details of the new centralised admissions exercise will be available at the following website in June:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/international-students/
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
19 March 2008