Pace is the culture shock: two years to cover material that stretches over longer runways elsewhere, with promotion criteria from JC1 to JC2. Millennia Institute runs the same exam over 3 years.
G-levels in secondary are ability banding (“how strong is this student in this subject?”). H-levels are a depth/workload choice (“how much of this subject will this student carry?”): H1 covers roughly half the content of H2 — fewer topics, not a watered-down version — and a science student taking H1 Econs is rationing effort, not weak at it.
Not every subject exists at every level — and not every JC offers every subject (a legitimate reason to pick a school beyond its cut-off):
| Category | Subjects | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Maths | Mathematics | H1 · H2 · H3 |
| Further Mathematics (taken alongside H2 Maths — the “double maths” option) | H2 only | |
| Sciences | Physics · Chemistry · Biology | H1 · H2 · H3 |
| Computing | H2 only | |
| Humanities | Economics · History · Geography · Literature in English | H1 · H2 · H3 |
| English Language & Linguistics · China Studies | H2 | |
| Languages | General Paper (compulsory) | H1 only |
| Knowledge & Inquiry (critical thinking / epistemology) · MTL Language & Literature | H2 | |
| Mother Tongue (compulsory tier) · third languages (French, German, Japanese… via MOE Language Centre) | H1 / H2 | |
| Arts | Art · Music · Theatre Studies & Drama | mostly H2 (H3 Art/Music exist) |
H3 comes in three flavours: MOE–Cambridge H3 papers (e.g. H3 Maths, H3 Physics), university-run H3s (actual NUS/NTU modules taken while in JC), and research H3s (a supervised science research project). All are graded Distinction/Merit/Pass, outside the UAS. Example maximal-maths load: H2 Maths + H2 Further Maths + H2 Physics + H1 Econs + GP, adding H3 Maths in JC2.
The standard frame — combinations are offered as school bundles (the classic science one is “PCME”: Physics, Chem, Maths, Econs):
| Component | Notes |
|---|---|
| 3 × H2 content subjects | The core of the certificate — these dominate the score |
| 1 × H1 content subject | The contrasting subject: science-stream students must take a humanities (usually H1 Econs); arts-stream students take maths or a science |
| H1 General Paper (GP) | Compulsory — essays and comprehension on current affairs |
| Project Work (PW) | Compulsory JC1 group project — now graded pass/fail; a pass is required for local university |
| H1 Mother Tongue | Compulsory — unless already cleared via Higher MTL at O-Level/SEC (that is the prize HMTL students bank) |
Strong students may take 4 H2s instead of 3+1 — schools gate this on entry results. Under the new scoring the 4th H2 is insurance rather than bonus: the weakest of the four is rescored on the H1 scale.
Each subject is graded A to E (pass), then S and U below that — no A1/A2 splits here. Grades convert to rank points, and higher is better (like IB, unlike every aggregate before this).
| Grade | H2 points | H1 points |
|---|---|---|
| A | 20 | 10 |
| B | 17.5 | 8.75 |
| C | 15 | 7.5 |
| D | 12.5 | 6.25 |
| E (pass) | 10 | 5 |
| S | 5 | 2.5 |
| U | 0 | 0 |
Universities publish Indicative Grade Profiles (IGPs) — the grades of last year’s admitted cohort at the 10th/90th percentile. Same caveat as every cut-off in this system: descriptive, not a promise.
| Bracket | Courses | Profile |
|---|---|---|
| Straight-A | Medicine, Law, Dentistry, NUS Computer Science | AAA/A even at the 10th percentile — effectively the whole cohort has perfect or near-perfect grades; med/law/dentistry add interviews and tests, NUS CS runs an aptitude test for borderline cases |
| Near straight-A | NTU Computer Science, top business/analytics, popular double degrees | ≈AAB at the entry margin |
| Most degrees | Engineering, sciences, humanities, social sciences | A broad range below that — check each course’s IGP |
| Floor to apply | Any course | Passes (E+) in required subjects, pass in PW, and the course’s H2 prerequisites |
IGPs track demand, not course difficulty — NUS CS admitted at far lower profiles a decade ago and climbed to Medicine-level as tech hiring boomed. They drift with the job market.