SINGAPORE - Students who sat the GCE A-level examination in 2018 achieved the best passing rate since the curriculum was revised in 2006.

Of the 13,042 students who took the examinations as school candidates, 12,170 students or 93.3 per cent achieved at least three H2 passes and a pass in General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said on Friday (Feb 22).

The rate is a 0.3 percentage point improvement on the 93 per cent rate achieved by the 2017 cohort.

Previously, the highest pass rate was 93.1 per cent that was achieved by the 2015 cohort.

Former students of various junior colleges (JCs) went as early as 1.30pm to collect their results, which were given out at 2.30pm.

Those from Jurong and Pioneer JCs streamed into Jurong-Pioneer JC - previously the premises of Pioneer JC - to collect their A-level results.

The two JCs were among the eight JCs merged this year owing to a drop in student intake nationwide.

In the school hall of Jurong-Pioneer JC, more than 600 former students from the last batch of Pioneer JC waited with their teachers, and cheered as the school administration declared an overall improvement in their performance compared with the previous year.

Applause also greeted the unveiling of the top performers and students who had shown excellence in leadership and other non-academic pursuits.

Jurong JC also did significantly better than the previous year, said Dr Hang Kim Hoo, the principal of Jurong-Pioneer JC. "The (merged) college is happy about the achievements."

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Education said A-level graduates who qualify for course exemptions, and who are not enlisting in national service, can enter the polytechnics in the same year that they receive their A-level results.

Those who applied to the local universities will know if they are accepted by end-July. Those who failed to get in could consider diploma courses at the polytechnics.

The application period for polytechnic courses start in mid-August. Those who got a place and the course exemptions may start their diploma studies in the second semester, in October.

A former student of Jurong JC, Mr Ben Tay, 20, is grateful to his principal for letting him retake his A-levels, for he improved on his previous results.

"I will apply for a university place first. If I am not accepted, I will see what my other choices are."