Press Releases
80 Secondary Schools to Participate in Direct School Admission Exercise
This year, 80 schools, 6 more than last year, will be participating in the 2010 Direct School Admission - Secondary Exercise (DSA-Sec) for admission to Secondary One in 2011. The DSA-Sec Exercise promotes holistic education by giving participating schools greater flexibility in selecting students while holding to the key principles of transparency and meritocracy. For students, DSA provides them the opportunity to demonstrate a more diverse range of achievements and talents in seeking admission to secondary schools.
The 80 schools participating in the DSA-Sec Exercise this year are listed in Annex A.
New DSA Secondary Schools
Niche Programme Schools
Six new schools have been approved by MOE to offer discretionary places via the DSA-Sec Exercise for admissions from 2011 onwards in the following niche programmes:
| School | Niche |
|---|---|
| Bendemeer Secondary School | National Education |
| Chung Cheng High School (Yishun) | Chinese Orchestra |
| Hong Kah Secondary School | Soccer |
| Marsiling Secondary School | Environmental Education |
| Siglap Secondary School | Gamelan and Angklung / Kulintang Ensembles |
| West Spring Secondary School | Air Pistol |
Two new niche areas, Gamelan and Angklung / Kulintang Ensembles and Air Pistol, will be introduced this year. Gamelan and Angklung / Kulintang Ensembles will be offered by Siglap Secondary School, while Air Pistol will be offered by West Spring Secondary School. More details on the selection criteria can be found at the respective schools’ websites.
A list of the 40 niche programme schools is at Annex B. MOE will continue to invite applications from schools interested to establish niche programmes in subsequent years.
Student Selection for DSA Places
Each school has its own merit-based criteria for selection (academic and/or non-academic criteria), based on the students’ personal qualities and areas of focus that the school would like to emphasise (such as science, music, sports). Information on the schools participating in the DSA-Sec Exercise, their selection criteria and their application and selection processes can be found on their respective websites.
DSA-Sec Exercise
The exercise will be conducted in 3 stages as follows:
| Stage | Stage Name | Description | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Selection | Schools will conduct their own selection exercises, and inform students of the results (Confirmed Offer, placed on Waiting List or Rejected). | 28 Jun 10 to 3 Sep 10 |
| 2 | Exercise School Preference | Students may indicate their school preferences during this stage, based on the Confirmed Offers and Waiting List offers they have received. Offers not taken up will be considered as lapsed. They can indicate their preferences online or at their primary schools. | 25 Oct 10 to 29 Oct 10 |
| 3 | Results Release | The results of the DSA-Sec Exercise will be released together with the PSLE results. | Late Nov 10 |
Students who take up Confirmed Offers or Waiting List offers by schools during the DSA-Sec Exercise are still required to take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Those who take up Confirmed Offers are guaranteed a place in the school that has extended them an offer, provided that their PSLE results meet the minimum requirement for a course [Express/ Normal (Academic)/ Normal (Technical)] offered by the school.
Similar to previous years, students who have been admitted through the DSA-Sec Exercise will not be able to participate in the centralised Secondary One Posting Exercise.
For Further Information
Students who are interested in participating in the DSA-Sec Exercise should approach any of the participating secondary schools or visit their websites for more details regarding the selection exercises. They should do so well before the start of the Selection Stage.
Students/parents can also call the MOE Customer Service Centre at 6872-2220 for further clarifications or refer to the DSA-Sec website for more information regarding the DSA-Sec Exercise.
Background
MOE has been giving schools, polytechnics and universities greater flexibility in their admission of students to allow a more diverse range of student achievements and talents to be recognised.
Since 2004, MOE has introduced a phased plan to provide greater flexibility in the secondary and junior college (JC) school admission system. The plan includes:
- allowing schools with Integrated Programme (IP) or Specialised Independent Schools (viz. NUS High School, School of the Arts and School of Science and Technology, Singapore) full discretion in admissions;
- enhancing the autonomy of Autonomous Schools (AS) and Independent Schools (IS) by:
- increasing their level of discretionary places to 10% and 20% respectively, and
- allowing them to adopt their own merit-based admission criteria for these places;
- extending discretion on admissions, of up to 5% of intake, to mainstream secondary schools that are able to develop strong niche programmes; and
- giving discretion on admissions to all JCs.