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    Networking Group - JCs General

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Tertiary Education - A-Levels, Diplomas, Degrees
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    • SG_KP1S Offline
      SG_KP1
      last edited by

      For the A Level students, I’m not sure what the 70% figure is referencing. I am not 100% sure but I think some of these stats from historical time periods may be impacted by changing cohort sizes.


      Currently, I think MOE has said local universities have spots for about 40% of the cohort or about 16,000 students. Roughly speaking this ties out with ~20,000 university intake x 85% or 17,500 students (10% IS and 5% PR, although some of these kids would have been part of the cohort as well).

      JC1 Arts + Science intake is about 12,500 (not sure if this is A only or A + IB; I think it is both since the A Level results has included about 11,000 kids), Poly intake is around 20,500. Hence, 30% of Poly + JC = ~18,660. Assuming 30% of Poly kids were admitted first (just for illustrative purpose, not saying this is done), this would leave a JC to local uni admission rate in the high 70%. However, I think it is also fair to say that some JC kids will go elsewhere for whatever reason.

      If you backup a decade, JC1 intake was 16,000+ and Poly intake was 26,000+. At the time, local university spots were more like mid-teens thousands.

      I’m not suggesting everyone can get in or get what they want. Just saying the 70% figure didn’t tie out completely in my mind (article didn’t also seem to entirely define what / how 70% was calculated).

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      • doodbugD Offline
        doodbug
        last edited by

        A proportion of poly kids also choose to work instead of applying for university. I think it’s fair to say every A level kid tries to apply for uni after A levels as 1st option, but may dnd up articulating to other pathways if they cant get the uni place they desire

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        • phtthpP Offline
          phtthp
          last edited by

          doodbug\" post_id=\"2095334\" time=\"1673966943\" user_id=\"13281:

          A proportion of poly kids also choose to work instead of applying for university. I think it's fair to say every A level kid tries to apply for uni after A levels as 1st option, but may dnd up articulating to other pathways if they cant get the uni place they desire
          In a way, for Poly grads to work one or 2 years is good, in the sense that

          AFTER working in the real world that is directly related to that Diploma u graduate from, if u don't like what u are working at, at least still can switch over to another different degree to study in the uni, later on.

          Whereas
          for A level graduates who blur blur choose a degree to study bec still lost in career direction,
          they may end up regretting what they have studied for, in the uni.

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          • phtthpP Offline
            phtthp
            last edited by

            doodbug\" post_id=\"2095332\" time=\"1673966305\" user_id=\"13281:

            Not easy to retake SG A levels as not all schools are able or willing to take repeat students for a better grade (not sure if there is some MOE guideline on this), unless you fail the A level completely and fail to get the A level certificate.
            Yes, correct.

            If say, an RI student didn't do well in A-level, RI won't take him back unless this student failed badly. Otherwise, he has to re-take as private candidate.

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            • phtthpP Offline
              phtthp
              last edited by

              lee_yl\" post_id=\"2095321\" time=\"1673964767\" user_id=\"17023:

              Take IB is the best. I have not known of anyone whose kids who took IB (ACSI/SJI and international schools) cannot make it into local Uni. Whereas for SG A levels, quite a handful I know, couldn’t make it to local universities. So far, all of them opted for poly instead of retaking SG A levels. A levels must be traumatic for them

              3 in 10 A level students cannot make it to local uni. From a macro level, it is not distributed uniformly across all the JCs. Maybe 5% from RI couldn’t make it to local Uni but when it comes to lower tier JCs, the proportion of students not making into local Uni could be 50%
              1) for Poly students -

              out of every 3 Poly students,
              only 1 end up in our \"local\" uni. That means,
              only 30% Poly students make it.
              The balance, remaining 70% couldn't make it, into our local uni, immediately right after Poly graduation.

              If want to enter into those so called \"better\" faculty,
              then
              Poly students need to score minimum GPA 3.7x


              2) for A-level students -
              is the other way, round !

              70% of A-level students, make it to the local uni. 30% couldn't make it.

              But,
              for the 70% of A level students who made it, their results will determine which desired faculty they can enter. For those who did not do that well, some got posted into some faculty which they don't like.

              Have a friend's son went to a JC. Cannot make it to the U.
              Wasted 2 years !

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              • N Offline
                newbieks
                last edited by

                To do a 2 year A-level cost in a UK boarding school(say concord) what would be a good estimate of the total expense per year? S$100k or closer to S$150k?

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                • phtthpP Offline
                  phtthp
                  last edited by

                  newbieks\" post_id=\"2095345\" time=\"1673976010\" user_id=\"178749:

                  To do a 2 year A-level cost in a UK boarding school(say concord) what would be a good estimate of the total expense per year? S$100k or closer to S$150k?
                  Per Term costs is

                  sterling pound 15, 833

                  There are 4 Terms, per year
                  2 years will be Total 8 Term

                  So, multiply by 8 in pound, then convert back to sgd


                  https://smapse.com/concord-college-uk/a-level-program/

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                  • phtthpP Offline
                    phtthp
                    last edited by

                    lee_yl\" post_id=\"2095321\" time=\"1673964767\" user_id=\"17023:

                    Take IB is the best. I have not known of anyone whose kids who took IB (ACSI/SJI and international schools) cannot make it into local Uni. Whereas for SG A levels, quite a handful I know, couldn’t make it to local universities. So far, all of them opted for poly instead of retaking SG A levels. A levels must be traumatic for them

                    3 in 10 A level students cannot make it to local uni. From a macro level, it is not distributed uniformly across all the JCs. Maybe 5% from RI couldn’t make it to local Uni but when it comes to lower tier JCs, the proportion of students not making into local Uni could be 50%
                    True

                    In some JC, half the A-level cohort couldn't make it to U

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                    • MrsKiasuM Offline
                      MrsKiasu
                      last edited by

                      Come to think of it…UK A papers are the same regardless taking fm SG, Msia or UK right. To UK for A is expensive and kid still young. Take IB in local international school is much cheaper then…so like leeyl says ib seems better le. Can save the 2 yrs money for a degree course later on when really cannot make it.

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                      • sharonkhooS Offline
                        sharonkhoo
                        last edited by

                        phtthp\" post_id=\"2095344\" time=\"1673974578\" user_id=\"35251:

                        2) for A-level students -
                        is the other way, round !

                        70% of A-level students, make it to the local uni. 30% couldn't make it.

                        But,
                        for the 70% of A level students who made it, their results will determine which desired faculty they can enter. For those who did not do that well, some got posted into some faculty which they don't like.

                        Have a friend's son went to a JC. Cannot make it to the U.
                        Wasted 2 years !
                        In general, those who went to JCs got better O level grades, and there are many more students going to poly than JCs, so it's not surprising that a higher percentage from JCs made it to university.

                        A comment on the \"wasted years\" - I don't know about your friend's opinion, and what her son is like, but I don't think those years are necessarily a waste, depending on the child and the situation. I sent my daughter to take a 3-year A level programme, even though at the time I didn't think that she would make it to university (30% of MI students go to university, similar to poly). At that stage, we only wanted her to have a few more years in education so she would 'grow up', being quite immature for her age. We didn't choose poly at that stage as we felt she was too immature to handle that kind of programme. We were planning on her going to poly after her A levels. I would say that 2 years of education, even if it makes the route to work longer, is not wasted. It's not like he was bumming around at home doing nothing for 2 years.

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