THE A-level certificate is no longer enough for Hwa Chong Institution. The school is going the next step by conferring its very own diploma to top students to give them an extra edge.

The Hwa Chong diploma with Distinction will be given to the top 30 per cent of graduating students, based on their results in the preliminary A-level exams and achievements outside the classroom. This will be on top of the A-level certificate.

Hwa Chong, which takes in students for a six-year course, is not the only school with plans to award its own qualification.

NUS High School of Mathematics and Science will confer its own diploma, while Raffles Junior College is also likely to follow suit.

Announcing this at their 89th Founders' Day and Prize Giving ceremony on Thursday, Hwa Chong said the diploma would better reflect students' achievements.

Its director of corporate communications Melvyn Lim said: 'It's to send out a powerful signal to parents and students about the things that we hold important at Hwa Chong. Students with the diploma will not be bookworms but all-round excellent students.'

So far, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is the only one which has recognised the diploma. Hwa Chong plans to talk to universities here and abroad to get the diploma recognised.