The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have announced a major change in their academic calendar for their next cohort of applicants.

The institution has pushed forward the start of their academic year from May 2020 to September 2020.

While the commencement of the new academic year has been pushed forward, the institute will offer new students the choice of taking up a Special Summer Programme at no additional cost. The summer programme will feature e-learning classes, bridging programmes and research activities.

The university has stated that this is a permanent change and will impact all future cohorts. Meanwhile, the students already currently enrolled will continue with their existing schedule till completion of studies.

The university has said that this change has been in development for over a year, however, the plans were accelerated due to uncertainties of timelines due to the current Covid-19 environment.

The university feels that this change will have a positive impact in facilitating the over-all student experience and further align wider academic calendars.

Complete details and statement from Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) can be viewed at https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/sutd-to-start-its-academic-year-in-september-instead-of-may 

Comments by Saman Imtiaz, Head of International Education Services for Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore:

The decision by SUTD to push forward the new academic cycle will align the university’s admission intake with the calendars being followed by the rest of the autonomous universities in Singapore as they generally start in mid-August. In addition, this will facilitate the students graduating from the polytechnic institutions. The students sit for their final exams in June/July and will now have more time to consider all their options for additional qualifications and apply to SUTD.

The new timeline may also add to the pool of prospective applicants for the university if we consider that the students who complete the two years of National Service will now be able to consider the September admission cycle for SUTD on completion of their service. The National Service cohorts complete the service in batches at different times of the year and this new academic cycle will enable a bigger number to apply for the September intake.

This decision is very much in accordance with the Singapore government’s directives to control the spread of Covid-19 infections across educational institutions and the country. The government has put in place strict measures for social distancing and advised educational institutions to provide digital/home-based learning options for students till the situation improves.

The Singapore government’s directives and ‘circuit breaker’ measures are influencing several changes in schedules for school and university classes, examinations and assessments. We will be sharing an update on these for you next week.