DSA 2017

[FantasyLandDreams]

Not sure if I miss out anything while reading the news, was it mention anywhere at which point of the admission process the ‘20%’ reserved for non-affiliated students comes in?


Is the sequence of admission like the below:
1. Take in DSA students first
2. Take in non-affiliated students based on t-score up to 20 per cent of sec 1 cohort
3. Take in affiliated primary school student up to 80 per cent of sec 1 cohort , based on their t-score
4. If there is any remainder vacancy, it’s based on t-score

[coast]

- deleted -

[coast]

darwinkoh:

coast:

My understanding is that removal of GAT applies to all (refer to his speech in link below). As for DSA Academic, all schools can continue if they want but it has to be subject specific domain.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/moe-fy-2017-committee-of-supply-debate-speech-by-minister-of-education-schools-ng-chee-meng

\"56.\tMr Ang Wei Neng asked for a breakdown of the DSA admission numbers in 2016. I would like to clarify that schools received 16,000 applications last year, with some students applying to more than one school. Eventually, a total of 2,800 students were admitted to secondary school via DSA, half of whom were admitted to the Integrated Programme, or IP. This is unsurprising, given that IP schools have full discretion in admission, while the majority of secondary schools can only set aside 5%, 10% or 20% of their Secondary 1 intake for DSA places today, depending on the type of school.\"

I interpret it IP schools can have that flexibility. Thanks

Thanks for sharing your view. I read the DSA portion of his speech again.

\"60. We will also make changes to DSA processes. First, we will refine DSA selection. Today, all applicants who apply for a particular DSA category in a school go through the same selection that is open and merit-based. The selection matches a student’s strengths and interests to a school’s talent development programmes, and ensures that students are able to cope with the academic rigour of the school’s programmes.\"

It's mentioned above that current DSA ensures ... cope with academic rigour ...

It's mentioned in Points 61 to 63 \"We will start refining the DSA selection from this year, to better achieve the objectives of DSA. Schools will focus on identifying students with specific talents and move away from recognising strong general academic abilities. ... As part of this refinement, schools will discontinue the use of general academic ability tests in DSA selection by 2018 ... Schools can conduct their selection via a range of assessment tools including interviews, trials, auditions and subject tests. They will also consider the applicant’s overall portfolio and achievements.

For those going for Sports/ Arts ... do they have to take subject tests? If not, is it possible to ensure that they can cope with academic riquor with the removal of GAT?

If they have to take subject tests, back to square 1?

For those applying for specific subject domain, do they have to take other subjects' test? If not, how to ensure that they can cope with academic riquor?

Sorry I am not quite sure if removal of GAT applies to IP schools :?

Thanks.

[yap_susan]

Any idea how many DSA applications can we apply? Now is centralised application yet?

[darwinkoh]

coast:

Thanks for sharing your view. I read the DSA portion of his speech again.

\"60. We will also make changes to DSA processes. First, we will refine DSA selection. Today, all applicants who apply for a particular DSA category in a school go through the same selection that is open and merit-based. The selection matches a student’s strengths and interests to a school’s talent development programmes, and ensures that students are able to cope with the academic rigour of the school’s programmes.\"

It's mentioned above that current DSA ensures ... cope with academic rigour ...

It's mentioned in Points 61 to 63 \"We will start refining the DSA selection from this year, to better achieve the objectives of DSA. Schools will focus on identifying students with specific talents and move away from recognising strong general academic abilities. ... As part of this refinement, schools will discontinue the use of general academic ability tests in DSA selection by 2018 ... Schools can conduct their selection via a range of assessment tools including interviews, trials, auditions and subject tests. They will also consider the applicant’s overall portfolio and achievements.

For those going for Sports/ Arts ... do they have to take subject tests? If not, is it possible to ensure that they can cope with academic riquor with the removal of GAT?

If they have to take subject tests, back to square 1?

For those applying for specific subject domain, do they have to take other subjects' test? If not, how to ensure that they can cope with academic riquor?

Sorry I am not quite sure if removal of GAT applies to IP schools :?

Thanks.

Thanks. Think there will be more clarity within the next few weeks.

[coast]

doodbug:

For DSA via non-academic domains, for example, Sports, can Schools set their own COP for confirmed offers (for example, say 230 hypothetically), or has MOE stipulated a COP strictly of 200?

I have heard of \"Conditional Offer\" 2 years ago ... while I trust the source of that info, it was not firsthand so I cannot be absolutely sure. For DSA last year (my DS year), I have not heard such cases.

For the usual COs, it would be stated as long as you qualify for the Express course ... I have read from a forummer who quoted an answer from Parliament that the score is 188 but most people think it's 200.

[coast]

FantasyLandDreams:

Not sure if I miss out anything while reading the news, was it mention anywhere at which point of the admission process the '20%' reserved for non-affiliated students comes in?


Is the sequence of admission like the below:
1. Take in DSA students first
2. Take in non-affiliated students based on t-score up to 20 per cent of sec 1 cohort
3. Take in affiliated primary school student up to 80 per cent of sec 1 cohort , based on their t-score
4. If there is any remainder vacancy, it's based on t-score

\"79. Starting from the 2019 Secondary 1 Posting Exercise, 20% of places for each course in every affiliated secondary school will be reserved for students who do not benefit from affiliation priority.\"

The intent is to make sure at least 20% for non-affiliation for each course so I think the sequence does not really matter.

As there are only 27 affiliated secondary schools with only 6 to 8 affected each year based on recent years' data, I think MOE has already communicated to these schools ... just that it takes time to announce the details or for the affected schools to iron out any issues ... (increase class size? add another class? ...)

[coast]

yap_susan:

Any idea how many DSA applications can we apply? Now is centralised application yet?

Not yet ... centralized application will start \"from the 2019 DSA Exercise onwards\".

Currently no limit. From what I know, majority applied 2 or 3 ... some students were very clear about their choice and applied just 1 .... and there were some who applied 4 or more.

When you exercise your DSA School Preference Form, you can submit at most 3 choices.

[yap_susan]

Any idea dsa application starts in April or May according to trend?

[coast]

darwinkoh:

Thanks. Think there will be more clarity within the next few weeks.

Yes, we will know soon

It seems clear to me that MOE wants holistic education for all students so I will be surprised if GAT is not discontinued for ALL (including IP schools) as \"These tests are used by some schools as a standardised assessment of applicants’ general reasoning and problem-solving skills. While they allow for a comparison of students’ abilities, they also inadvertently put undue focus on general academic abilities, rather than identifying specific strengths.\".