Secondary education in Singapore

Secondary education in Singapore is largely public, and is compulsory until a child has reached 16 years of age. 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 bands: G1, G2 and G3, with special and private education courses also being available. The G3 level has a more stringent cut-off than the G2 level, which is in turn more selective than the G1 level. G1 is the foundation while G2 is the middle ground and G3 is the top scorers. Secondary students can move between streams based on their academic performance.

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). 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. N(T) students take the N(T) examinations, which allows students to apply to the ITEs. 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.

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.