SINGAPORE - The results of the GCE N-level examinations will be released on Thursday, Dec 18.

Students may obtain their result slips from their schools from 2pm that day, while private candidates will be notified of their results by post. They can also obtain their results online via the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board's website, http://www.seab.gov.sg, from 2pm on the same day.

Students who wish to apply for courses offered by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) can submit their applications online via the ITE application portal (www.ite.edu.sg/wps/portal/intake/) after collecting their results. Application forms will also be available at the three ITE colleges.

Students eligible for the Direct-Entry-Scheme to Polytechnic Programme (DPP) will be invited to apply for the programme.

The DPP prepares students to get into polytechnic diploma courses via the ITE. Under the DPP, students who successfully complete a Higher Nitec course at ITE and achieve the qualifying Grade Point Average scores are guaranteed a place in a matching polytechnic diploma course.

Applications for DPP can be submitted online via the ITE application portal between 2.30pm on Dec 18 and 5pm on Dec 22. The posting results will be out on Dec 26 at 9am.

Applications for another option, the Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP), will open later, in Jan 2015, when the GCE O-level examination results are released. On the same day, eligible students will be invited to apply for the programme.

The PFP is a one-year foundation programme offering a practice-oriented curriculum taught by polytechnic lecturers, to better prepare polytechnic-bound Normal (Academic) students for entry into the relevant diploma course.

For more information on the DPP and the PFP, go to http://www.ite.edu.sg/wps/portal/definitely-des/ and http://www.polytechnic.edu.sg/pfp/