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Start of 2022 Direct School Admission Exercises & ITE and Polytechnic Early Admissions Exercise

Published Date: 04 May 2022 09:00 AM

News Press Releases

The Direct School Admission (DSA) exercise for admission to secondary schools and junior colleges (JCs) in 2023 will open for applications from 5 May 2022. Separately, applications for early admission to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnics based on course-specific aptitude and interests will start from 26 May and 6 June 2022 respectively.

DSA Exercise

2. DSA provides a pathway for students to gain direct entry to secondary schools or JCs based on their diverse talents and potential, beyond their performance at the national examinations. Upon admission, students can develop these talents further in their secondary schools or JCs. There are 142 secondary schools and 20 JCs participating in DSA this year. Since 2018, secondary schools can take up to 20% of their non-Integrated Programme Secondary 1 intake via the DSA exercise. Starting from the 2022 DSA exercise, MOE will increase DSA places for Government and Government-aided1 (GGA) JCs from 10% to 20% of their non-Integrated Programme JC1 intake. More students can now seek admission to a JC based on their talents and achievements that may not be demonstrated at the O-Levels.

Conduct of DSA Selection

3. Given the high vaccination rates of students and staff in schools, MOE will allow the resumption of in-person interviews and selection for the 2022 DSA exercise. This enables students to better demonstrate their talents and potential, especially for trials or group tasks where coordination between candidates is important (e.g. team sports, group performance). Safe Management Measures (SMMs), in line with the national posture, will be in place to ensure the safety of students and staff participating in the interviews and selection process.

4. MOE will continue to provide guidelines to support schools in the selection process for applicants. We will also closely monitor the COVID-19 situation and update on any changes prior to the start of the DSA selections.

DSA Commitment

5. Students participating in the DSA-Sec or DSA-JC Exercise are still required to take the PSLE or GCE O-Level examination respectively. Students will be informed of the outcome of their DSA application and if an offer is made, they will need to decide whether to take up the offer by the indicated deadline, which will be before the release of the national examination results. A student who takes up a DSA-Sec confirmed offer is guaranteed a place in that secondary school, provided his/her PSLE results meet the minimum requirement for a course [Express / Normal (Academic) / Normal (Technical)] offered by the school. Students seeking entry to the Integrated Programme (IP) track must meet the minimum requirement for entry to the Express course. Similarly, for a student who takes up a DSA-JC offer, his/her GCE O-Level result must meet the eligibility criteria2 for admission to the JCs.

6. In accepting an offer of admission through the DSA-Sec or DSA-JC, students are expressing a commitment to study in that school, to develop their talent in the chosen area, and should honour this commitment. Students successfully admitted to a school via DSA-Sec or DSA-JC will not be participating in the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise (S1 Ex) or Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE). They will also not be allowed to transfer to another school after obtaining their PSLE or GCE O-Level results.

7. Students should carefully consider their DSA application, based on their aptitudes and strengths, the school's academic and non-academic requirements, and the programmes available to develop their talents.

DSA-Sec Application

8. Students and parents may submit applications for DSA-Sec via a centralised online portal through the MOE DSA-Sec website3 from 5 May 2022, 11am to 1 June 2022, 3pm. Applicants only need to fill in one online form to apply to multiple schools and talent areas. Each applicant can indicate up to three choices in the application form. For each choice, applicants will need to choose a secondary school and a talent area offered by that school. Applicants can indicate a different talent area for each of his/her three choices, and a maximum of two choices may be used for the same school.

9. Application through the portal is free-of-charge and requires one parent's Singpass to login, for authentication purposes. Parents who do not have Singpass access can approach their child's primary school for assistance.

DSA-JC Application

10. Students applying for DSA-JC are encouraged to check the MOE DSA-JC website4 for important dates and timelines, and to find out how the exercise will be conducted. Interested students should visit the respective JCs' websites as application periods, procedures and selection criteria may differ.

Further Information

11. Students interested in the DSA-Sec and DSA-JC should visit the websites of the participating DSA schools for more details. They are advised to do so before submitting their application form. Students can also access the MOE DSA-Sec and DSA-JC websites to find out more information about the exercises.

Financial Assistance Schemes

12. MOE provides financial assistance through various schemes such as the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) and Opportunity Fund, to ensure that students from low-income families are not deprived of developmental opportunities. In addition, students who are interested in applying to Independent Schools (ISes) can tap on the Independent School Bursary (ISB) and the Edusave Scholarship for Independent Schools (ESIS) to help defray the higher fees in these schools. The UPLIFT Scholarship is also available to provide an annual cash award of $800 for eligible IS students from low-income families. More information on these scholarships can be found at https://www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/scholarships.

Early Admissions Exercise (EAE)

13. EAE provides a pathway for graduating ITE, N-Level and O-Level students, as well as working adults, to apply for and receive conditional offers for admission to ITE and the polytechnics. Beyond academic grades, EAE applicants are considered on the basis of demonstrated aptitude and interest towards a specific course. Applicants may be required to submit portfolios, undergo interviews and take aptitude tests as part of the selection process.

Conduct of EAE Selection

14. EAE selections in 2020 and 2021 were conducted largely via virtual means for most courses. The modality of EAE selection in 2022 will vary depending on course requirements, and could be virtual or in-person. Where in-person selections are conducted, the polytechnics and ITE will ensure appropriate SMMs are in place, in line with national posture.

15. ITE and the polytechnics will inform applicants about the selection process accordingly. Students who require support can reach out to the institutions for assistance. Institutions will also continue to monitor the national situation and update on any changes prior to the start of the selections.

ITE EAE Application

16. Graduating N- and O-Level students can apply for early admission to Nitec and Higher Nitec courses respectively through the ITE EAE, based on their course-specific aptitudes and interest.

17. Applications will open from 26 May to 01 June 2022. More information on the application procedure and key dates for the interviews, acceptance and confirmation of offer can be found at https://www.ite.edu.sg/apply-eae.

18. Successful applicants under the ITE EAE will be given conditional offers before receiving their Nitec, GCE N- or O-Level results. For their conditional offer to be confirmed, they must meet the Minimum Entry Requirements (MERs) of the offered course. The MERs for the respective Nitec and Higher Nitec courses can be found at https://www.ite.edu.sg/apply-eae.

19. Students are expected to commit to their choice of course under the ITE EAE. Students who accept a place via the ITE EAE will not be eligible to participate in the Joint Admissions Exercise for Higher Nitec courses, or Joint Intake Exercise for Higher Nitec and Nitec courses.

Polytechnic EAE Application

Admission for Graduating O-Level and ITE students

20. Graduating O-Level and final-year ITE students can apply for early admission into courses at the five polytechnics through the Polytechnic EAE, based on their course-specific aptitudes and interest.

21. Applications will open from 9 to 15 June 2022 for final-year ITE students, and from 23 to 29 June 2022 for O-Level students. More information on the application procedure, entry requirements and important dates for the interviews, acceptance and confirmation of offer can be found at https://eae.polytechnic.edu.sg.

22. Successful applicants under the Polytechnic EAE will be given conditional offers before receiving their final examination results. For the conditional offer to be confirmed, they must meet the MERs for the offered polytechnic course. The MERs for the respective diploma courses can be found on the polytechnics' websites.

23. Students are expected to commit to their choice of polytechnic and course under the Polytechnic EAE. Students who accept an offer via the Polytechnic EAE and have their place confirmed will not be eligible to participate in all other polytechnic admission exercises. They will also not be able to transfer to another course within or between the polytechnics.

Admission for Working Adults

24. Working adults with at least two years of relevant work experience can apply to the polytechnics via the Polytechnic EAE. This applies to Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents only.

25. Interested working adults will need to submit employment records together with their application, as well as employer recommendations where available. The polytechnics will holistically assess applicants' work experience to determine the relevance of the competencies/skills gained over the course of their work to their course of interest. Applicants who are found suitable, but whose past academic grades do not meet the MERs, will be given the opportunity to demonstrate that they have acquired the pre-requisite competencies for their chosen course through supplementary assessments.

26. Applications for working adults will open from 6 June to 3 July 2022. More information can be found at https://eae.polytechnic.edu.sg.

Further Information

27. Students interested in the ITE EAE or Polytechnic EAE should visit the websites of the Institutes of Higher Learning for more details. They are advised to do so before the start of the respective exercises. More information on the ITE EAE and Polytechnic EAE is also available on https://www.moe.gov.sg/post-secondary/admissions/ite-eae and https://www.moe.gov.sg/post-secondary/admissions/poly-eae, respectively.


ANNEX


Footnotes

  1. GGA JCs include: Anderson Serangoon JC, Anglo-Chinese JC, Catholic JC, Eunoia JC, Jurong Pioneer JC, National JC, Nanyang JC, St Andrew's JC, Tampines Meridian JC, Temasek JC, Victoria JC and Yishun Innova JC.

  2. Please refer to https://www.moe.gov.sg/jc-admission-eligibility for more information.

  3. The MOE DSA-Sec website can be accessed at: https://www.moe.gov.sg/dsa-sec.

  4. The MOE DSA-JC website can be accessed at: https://www.moe.gov.sg/dsa-jc.