Junior college admission criteria to change from L1R5 to L1R4 in 2028
SINGAPORE: From 2028, students seeking admission into junior colleges will be assessed based on five O-Level subjects instead of six, the Education Ministry announced on Thursday (Mar 6).
Under the current L1R5 criteria, students must attain a score of 20 or better across six O-Level subjects to qualify for a junior college (JC).
The L1R5 aggregate includes one language subject, one humanities subject, one science or mathematics subject, one additional humanities, science or mathematics subject, and two other best-performing subjects.
With the implementation of L1R4 from the 2028 admission exercise, students will need to score 16 points or better across five subjects, removing one of their best-scoring subjects from consideration. The requirement to pass a mother tongue language subject (D7 or better) remains unchanged.
For the Millennia Institute (MI), the admission threshold will remain at 20 points under L1R4, but students must include three subjects from both the humanities, and science or mathematics subject groups, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said in a press release.
Despite the change, the ministry said it expects the proportion and profile of students qualifying for JC to remain largely unchanged.
Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, speaking in parliament on his ministry's plans for the year, said the revised criteria will allow students to take fewer subjects or opt for some at a less demanding level.
This frees up time for students to pursue their interests, strengthen their communication and collaboration skills through co-curricular activities and discover new strengths through school programmes, he added.
As part of this revision, the maximum bonus points for JC admissions, including MI, will be reduced from four to three, reflecting the reduced subject count under the L1R4 criteria.
The L1R5 admission criterion was introduced in 1989 to address poor passing rates in the A-Levels among JC students. At the time, requiring three relevant subjects ensured students had a broad and relevant academic foundation to manage the demands of the A-Level curriculum, MOE said.
JC students today are "much better prepared", with A-Level passing rates rising from about 65 per cent in 1990 to about 95 per cent in 2023, the ministry said.
Additionally, the proportion of O-Level candidates who take eight or more subjects has also grown from about 15 per cent in 1997 to about 30 per cent in 2023.
MOE said the move to reduce the number of subjects required for JC admission is in line with its efforts to encourage development in students beyond academic achievements.
Since L1R4 still requires three subjects from both the humanities, and science or mathematics subject groups, students will be sufficiently prepared for the rigour of the JC curriculum, it said.
Mr Chan reassured that JC admission standards are not being relaxed, citing MOE simulations indicating that a similar proportion of students will continue qualifying for JC. He also stated that the ministry will monitor students' academic outcomes to ensure they benefit from JC education.
Over the past five years, about 27 per cent of students enrolling in post-secondary institutions have entered JCs or MI, while 43 per cent opted for polytechnics. These proportions have remained stable, MOE said.
In the same period, about 42 per cent of students eligible for JC chose to enrol in polytechnics instead, according to MOE data.
JC admission cut-off points will "adjust accordingly" with the revised criteria, said a ministry spokesperson.
"The fact that you're counting one less subject means you can expect the cut-off points for JC admission generally to decline a little corresponding to the one fewer subject to be counted," the spokesperson said.
"But we don't expect the cut-off point to be tightened beyond that."
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JC REJUVENATION PROGRAMME AND CCA SUPPORT
In his speech, Mr Chan also announced that four more schools – Anglo-Chinese JC, Catholic JC, National JC and Victoria JC – will be included in the second phase of the JC rejuvenation programme.
Currently, Anderson Serangoon JC, Jurong Pioneer JC, Temasek JC and Yishun Innova JC are undergoing upgrades in the first phase, which is expected to conclude in January 2028.
The four JCs included in the second phase are Singapore's next oldest JC campuses, said Mr Chan.
The ministry is working with the JCs on their infrastructure plans, including possibly moving them to new locations, he added.
The rejuvenated campuses will have enhanced facilities such as configurable spaces and multi-functional workspaces for staff. The first phase is estimated to cost about S$570 million.
MOE also announced the expansion of strategic partnership co-curricular activities (CCAs) to include hockey from 2026. These partnerships allow students from different schools to come together to participate in the same CCA.
Nearly 40 per cent of students are in sports CCAs, and most primary schools do not conduct selection trials to better cater to students' interests, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education Shawn Huang on Thursday.
While schools try to provide a good range of CCAs to cater to students' varied interests, a "lack of critical mass" may prevent them from providing more CCAs, he added.
This year, 105 students are taking part in the athletics programme, 77 in water polo and 35 in canoeing, which is a new addition in 2025.
