GCE 'O' Level
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The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examinations (GCE 'O' Level) is an exam set by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education of Singapore creates the examination syllabus and sets the standard of difficulty. Britain then use these guidelines to formulate the examination questions. The Mother Tongue examinations are created by Singapore.
The markers of the exam scripts are generally Singaporean teachers, although the English Language papers undergo a more complicated process. After the examination, the completed papers are shipped off to Cambridge, marked by British teachers, then sent back to Singapore.
The examination is taken by students at the end of their fourth year in secondary school, around the age of sixteen. The system is comparable to Britain's GCSE paper, which is also generally taken by students at age sixteen. However, the difference lies in one paper having a more difficult standard than the other. In Britain, it is widely considered by the older generation that the British GCE has been watered down to a new, simpler paper known as the GCSE. Singapore retained the tougher GCE standards.
A grade in one GCE exam subject is a number with an accompanying alphabet. In descending grade order: A1, A2, B3, B4, C5, C6, D7, E8, and the worst grade being an F9. The grades of all subjects taken are added to give the aggregate named L1R5 (one language subject and 5 relevant subject). The result. The lower a student's aggregate is, the better, and thus, the better their tertiary education prospect.
Cut off points (abb. COP), is usually the greatest call for concern. All Junior Colleges accept only students that are below the COP.
In the case of polytechnics, the subjects' names and grades are both taken into consideration. Some polytechnic courses require their students to be competent at certain (related)subjects, to be deemed able to handle the modules. For example, a student who wishes for a place in the Mass Communication course has to meet its requirement of an "A2" grade for English, that is to say, an excellent grade in English. Not only that, his or her aggregate has to be below the COP. Once they have met both requirements, they will be given a place in their chosen course. If they are unable to, an appeal is available.
As such, an "O" level certificate is considered exceptionally important. It may decide how a student's future career is going to turn out. The exam is taken very seriously by many students.
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[edit] Subjects
[edit] Special and Express Students
All Special and Express students are required take 6 to 9 subjects. Students who want to take 10 subjects, have to get permission from the Ministry of Education. All Special and Express students have to take the following subject combinations.
- English language
- Mother tongue, or a second language for foreign students only, if they want to replace mother tongue, with a second language or literature.
- A Humanities subject
- A Science subject
- Mathematics
[edit] Normal (Academic) Students
All Normal (Academic) students take 4 to 7 subjects including:
- English language
- Mother Tongue or a second language
- A humanities subject^
- Mathematics
^Note
- Combined Humanities(2190)is a Compulsory subject for all students to take
[edit] Subjects
This is a partial list of subjects offered at the GCE 'O' Levels in the year 2003.
| Cambridge Subject | Local Subject (English) | Local Subject (Chinese) | Local Subject (Malay) | Local Subject (Tamil) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Code | Subject | Code | Subject | Code | Subject | Code | Subject | Code |
| English | 1120 | Hinduism Studies | 2071 | Higher Chinese | 1111 | Higher Malay | 1131 | Higher Tamil | 1141 |
| English literature | 2015 | Sikhism Studies | 2072 | Chinese | 1162 | Malay | 1132 | Tamil | 1142 |
| Bible Knowledge | 2038 | Confucianist Morals | 2074 | Chinese B | 1163 | Malay B | 1134 | Tamil B | 1143 |
| History (modern history from 1919 to present) | 2158 | Buddhism Studies | 2075 | Chinese Literature | 2031 | Malay (Special) | 1133 | Tamil Literature | 2070 |
| History of Malaysia, Singapore and modern world history） | 2170 | Islam | 2080 | Confucianist Morals | 2074 | Malay literature | 2061 | ||
| History (Revised history of South-east Asia and modern world history) | 2172 | Buddhism Studies | 2075 | Islamic theology | 2080 | ||||
| Geography | 2232 | ||||||||
| Geography (Revised) | 2234 | ||||||||
| Combined Humanities | 2190 | ||||||||
| French language | 3012 | ||||||||
| German language | 3028 | ||||||||
| Indian language | 3195 | ||||||||
| Burmese language | 3249 | ||||||||
| Thai language | 3260 | ||||||||
| Japanese language | 3261 | ||||||||
| Mathematics (Revised) | 4017 | ||||||||
| Mathematics D | 4019 | ||||||||
| Additional Mathematics | 4018 | ||||||||
| Physics | 5052 | ||||||||
| Chemistry | 5068 | ||||||||
| Biology | 5093 | ||||||||
| Fine Arts | 6009 | ||||||||
| Music | 6023 | ||||||||
