SINGAPORE - Close to 15,000 students received their N-level results on Monday afternoon (Dec 18).
Some 99.4 per cent of 9,983 students from the Normal (Academic) stream who took the exam passed it, while 76.6 per cent of students from this stream were also eligible for promotion to Secondary 5 next year.
This was an improvement over the 75.2 per cent last year who were promoted to Secondary 5 to take their O levels.
Meanwhile, the passing rate for the 4,793 Normal (Technical) stream candidates this year was 96.6 per cent.
This year's passing rates were slightly worse than last year's when 99.6 per cent of Normal (Academic) students and 97.1 per cent of Normal (Technical) students passed the examination.
Among this year's candidates were the first batch of graduands from Spectra Secondary School.
Spectra Secondary is one of the two specialised schools for Normal (Technical) students, where students take a four-year academic programme culminating in the N levels.
In addition to N-level subjects, these students learn vocational skills and graduate with an ITE Skills Certification in facility services, mechanical servicing, retail services or hospitality services.
The only other school to offer this is Crest Secondary.
Spectra's pioneer cohort saw 98.5 per cent receiving the GCE Normal (Technical) certificate.
About 40 per cent of the cohort - or 80 students - also applied for conditional offers through the Institute of Technical Education's Early Admission Exercise. They have all had their offers confirmed, and this means they will be able to enter Nitec courses of their choice.
Spectra's principal Krishnan Aravinthan told The Straits Times that it was "gratifying" to see the pioneer batch graduate.
"More than just the results, it's nice to see that the kids have grown and are more confident in their abilities."
This is also the first year that students under the Subject-Based Banding (Secondary) scheme sat the N-level exams.
Under the scheme, which sees students taking some subjects at one academic level higher, about half took one or more subjects in English, mother tongue, mathematics and science.
The graduating Normal (Technical) students under the scheme performed comparably to their peers in the Normal (Academic) course, according to the Ministry of Education.
Since 2014, the scheme has been prototyped in 12 secondary schools to cater to students' strengths in different subjects.
It will be extended to all secondary schools islandwide by next year. Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students can join the scheme if they qualify at the Primary School Leaving Examination, or at any point when their schools find them suitable.
