Impact of Singapore ‘circuit breaker’ on local school and university exam schedules

The Singapore government’s ‘circuit breaker’ and social distancing measures to control the spread of Covid-19 have had significant impact on the local academic cycle for school and university examinations, modes of examination and student assessment.

Given below is a summary of how local exam schedules are changing for schools and universities in Singapore.

Local schools have been advised that mid-year exams may be cancelled or re-scheduled as per individual institution’s discretion. While this is not a firm all-encompassing directive, most institutions have the option of re-scheduling mid-year exams for when schools re-open and possibly just for the graduating cohort. Based on this advice, some schools may have the mid-year exams in June 2020 as opposed to May 2020.  Others may opt to assess students on classwork, assignments or other projects.

For the national O-Level exams, more than 20,000 students will sit for the language exams in June and will sit for the rest of the subjects in October 2020.  These language exams will proceed with a slight change in schedule; they have now been pushed back by two weeks. For the A Level exams, schools have the option of cancelling or re-scheduling the mid-year exams as well.

The national O Level and A Level examination will be held as per schedule for most subjects in October 2020, though the examination schedule begins in August; details of subjects can be viewed at the link shared in the table below. These exams will be held in school, taken in person and schools will ensure social distancing measures are in place for the exam arrangements on campus (unless the Ministry of Education advises otherwise). The curriculum to be tested may be reduced in order to lessen burden for students sitting for the national end of year O and A Level examination.

Shared below are selected online links with updates for different school examinations.

There are changes in place for university students in Singapore, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

When we consider Singapore based TNE providers, as the programmes are managed in partnership with international higher education institutions, details and schedules are often based on the arrangements between the local institution and the international higher education institution. A few institutions scheduled their examinations earlier in April, while ensuring safe distancing for students. At the same time there are institutions that have decided to wait and delay their exams till May.

Local universities seem to be adopting a similar approach for their exams. Some undergraduate universities scheduled their exams earlier in April, while ensuring safe distancing for students.  However, the year-end exams have been cancelled for universities offering undergraduate programmes. The final exam for undergraduate students has been converted to online assessments, projects or other work. For institutions that had decided to shift to online teaching earlier, the year-end exams will proceed between end of April and early May.  On the other hand, institutions that had not made the shift to online teaching have had to cancel exams and will assess students based on previous projects or assignments.

Similarly, exams for postgraduate students will be converted to online assessments, projects or other work that institutions may decide on.

Considering that these changes have been introduced to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, it is possible that there may be additional changes to schedules for re-opening of campuses and for examinations. This will be subject to how the circumstances around Covid-19 evolve in Singapore.

While all efforts are being made to facilitate and support students, such as reduction of curriculum to be tested for school exams and the provision for alternative assessment methods for university exams, these changes may raise concerns for students in terms of how this may impact admission into international higher education institutions. Will these alternative assessment methods be accepted? Will students be required to take on any additional courses for university admissions? Will timelines be aligned?

A lot of this depends on external factors and on how the Covid-19 situation continues to change. At this time, these are some factors that we feel should be thought out when considering prospective applicants from Singapore and how the students can be facilitated through admission and recruitment policies.