Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level)

DEFINITION

The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-Level) examination is an annual national examination for a pre-university certificate. The examination is jointly organised by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB), Ministry of Education (MOE) and Cambridge Assessment International Education in Singapore. Also known as A-Level.

ETYMOLOGY

• It is a paraphrase of the English term “Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level”.
• The A-level examination was introduced by the MOE in 1975, in replacement of the existing pre-university certification, and was organised by the MOE and Cambridge Assessment International Education. All subjects, apart from Mother Tongue, fall under the purview of Cambridge Assessment International Education.
• The A-level examination is offered to students and private candidates. Students can apply for university with their A-level results.
• In order to gain greater autonomy and control over the examination, the MOE decided to delink the A-level examinations from the United Kingdom's GCE A-level examination. In 2002, the MOE established an independent A-level examination system for Singapore, which was closely aligned to the Singapore school curriculum.
• The first batch of candidates sat for the revamped A-Level examination in 2007. The new examination is divided into three levels: H1, H2 and H3 (H3 only available for some subjects). In general, the content of H1 subjects is half that of H2 subjects but of the same level of difficulty, while the content of H3 subjects builds on the corresponding H2 subject. Additionally, students taking their ‘A’ Levels can also participate in research reports and take university modules.
• The new curriculum stipulates that A-level students must take at least three H2 subjects and one H1 subject. They must also take the H1 General Paper (GP) or H2 Knowledge Inquiry, H1 Project work and Mother Tongue, as well as a contrasting subject.

SAMPLE SENTENCE

The passing rate for candidates taking the A-level examination last year reached 93.4%, which was slightly higher than the year before by 0.1%. This was the highest passing rate since the introduction of the new A-level curriculum in 2006. (Lianhe Zaobao, 21/02/2020)