Press Releases
Results of the 2008 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Normal (Academic) Examination and Normal (Technical) Level Examination
The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) Level Examinations are conducted jointly by the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) and the Ministry of Education (MOE).
New GCE Normal (Technical) Level Examination
This year saw the first cohort of students sitting for the new Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal (Technical) Level Examination based on the revised Normal (Technical) curriculum1. This revised Normal (Technical) curriculum was implemented in 2007 to provide more practice-oriented learning to better cater to students’ different learning profiles and help them discover their interests. The previous Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal-Level Examination was renamed the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal (Academic) Level Examination and the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal (Technical) Level Examination respectively.
Results of Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) Students
This year, 11,820 students in the Secondary 4 Normal (Academic) Course and 6,028 students in the Secondary 4 Normal (Technical) Course sat for the 2008 GCE Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) Level Examinations respectively.
11,721 (99.2%) students from the Normal (Academic) course will be awarded the Normal (Academic) Level certificate. The Normal (Academic) Level certificate is awarded to a candidate who obtains a pass grade of Grade 5 or better in at least one Normal (Academic) subject. Details of students who performed well in the Normal (Academic) Level Examination are available at Annex A (72kb .pdf).
5,859 (97.2%) students from the Normal (Technical) course will be awarded the Normal (Technical) Level certificate. The Normal (Technical) Level certificate is awarded to a candidate who obtains a pass grade of Grade D or better in at least one Normal (Technical) subject.
In addition, 99 Normal (Technical) students offered one or two Normal (Academic) subjects and 87 (87.9%) of them have obtained at least a Grade 5 or better2. Information on top Normal (Technical) students is available at Annex B (72kb .pdf).
Progression to Sec 5 Normal (Academic)
Students in the Normal (Academic) course who obtain an aggregate not exceeding 10 points in their best three subjects and a Grade 5 or better in English Language (EL) (Syllabus A) will be promoted to the Sec 5 Normal (Academic) in 2009.
This year, 3,704 Normal (Academic) students sat 1-2 subjects in the O-Level Examination3. These students are also eligible to proceed to Sec 5 Normal (Academic) if they obtain an aggregate not exceeding 10 points in their three best subjects and a Grade 5 or better in EL (Syllabus A) using their combined GCE Normal (Academic) Level and their school-based O-Level preliminary examination results.
In all, a total of 8,653 students (73.2%) are eligible for promotion to Sec 5 Normal (Academic).
Direct Progression to Secondary 5 Normal (Academic) Course
Since 2007, selected Normal (Academic) students are given the opportunity to progress directly to the Secondary 5 Normal (Academic) Course, bypassing the GCE Normal (Academic) Level Examination. The second cohort of students, who were selected for direct promotion at the end of Secondary 3 Normal (Academic) last year based on their school-based performance, numbered around 1,300.
Admission to Higher NITEC Courses at ITE
From 2007, Normal (Academic) students who obtain an aggregate of 19 points or less for EL, Mathematics and three other subjects, with at least a Grade 4 in EL and Mathematics, will have the additional option of enrolling in a new curriculum track allowing direct entry to Higher Nitec courses at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). These include courses from the Engineering, Infocomm Technology, Applied & Health Sciences and Business4 clusters. With this option, eligible students can start their Higher Nitec studies a year earlier, without having to sit the O-Level Examination. The Higher Nitec courses that students are eligible for will be indicated on the personalised ITE application form that all Normal Course students will receive when they collect their results. Eligible students may apply through the ITE website (www.ite.edu.sg) during the Joint Intake Exercise in December.
Progression of Normal (Technical) Students
All Normal (Technical) course students who have completed their secondary education in 2008 can apply to further their studies at ITE. Schools may also allow Sec 4 Normal (Technical) students to be laterally transferred to Sec 4 Normal (Academic) if they have obtained grade A for English and Mathematics and grade B or better for one other subject at the Normal (Technical) level.
Release of Results
School candidates will be issued their results slips by their respective schools from 2:00 pm today. Private candidates will be informed of their results by post. Private candidates may also access their results through the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board website from 2:00 pm today.
Footnotes:
- A new grade structure is used for the GCE N(T) Level Examination, namely Grades A, B, C, D and U (Ungraded), with Grade A being the best. ↵
- Since 2006, N(T) students may offer up to two N(A) subjects from the full range of N(A) subjects. ↵
- Since 2004, selected N(A) students may offer up to two O-Level subjects. The range of O-Level subjects that they may offer has been expanded since 2006. ↵
- To be eligible for courses in the Business Cluster, students must get at least a Grade 3 in EL. ↵