What’s new in Singapore polytechnics: Curriculum changes and programmes in 2025

SINGAPORE – Polytechnics have been buzzing with excitement, hosting their open houses to give prospective students a look at the options in their post-secondary educational journey.

The Straits Times rounds up the new offerings by the five polytechnics here.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Under the Go Flex initiative, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) has a slew of new programmes to provide its students with more flexibility to customise their learning.

One such programme is the double major option, which allows selected students from five diploma courses in the School of Engineering and School of InfoComm Technology to pursue a second major in business.

For the inaugural cohort, 25 students will complete an additional nine modules delivered by the School of Business and Accountancy during their second and third years.

In the University Pathway Programme, students can read modules from selected local universities from the third semester of their diploma course.

The polytechnic is also adding NUS and SMU to the list of partner universities that let students earn fast-track access to a bachelor’s degree and offer them opportunities to work on projects with university professors.

This addition comes after NP’s pilot with the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

In another new initiative, final-year students can participate in a one-year industry immersion programme. Depending on their course, students will either embark on a one-year internship or work on year-long real-world projects that are co-supervised by industry practitioners.

In addition, the School of Film and Media Studies has launched a new collaborative space for its students, with discussion pods and media production facilities.

It has also updated its mass communication course curriculum to feature generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and tools.

Temasek Polytechnic

Students graduating from Temasek Polytechnic (TP) in 2026 will receive a skills transcript that gives an overview of their competencies in academic studies, co-curricular activities, internships and overseas attachments.

Aligned with SkillsFuture Singapore’s skills taxonomy, the transcript showcases key competencies sought by employers, enabling better job fit, said TP.

The curriculum helmed by the Temasek Culinary Academy, TP’s food and beverage training hub, will be updated to meet evolving trends in the sector, in particular the need for innovative, sustainable and inclusive solutions.

Students keen to pursue diplomas in food, nutrition and culinary science, or hospitality and tourism management, will now be able to delve into emerging industry needs, such as AI-driven hospitality innovations, farm-to-table sustainability concepts and menu development for assisted living initiatives.

Those keen to pursue courses at the School of Engineering will get to study new sustainability-focused topics.

This is in response to the increasing demand for talent in green industries, as businesses adopt sustainable practices to tackle climate change.

Republic Polytechnic

From 2025, new students will be guided by their lecturers using a design thinking approach developed by Stanford University in the US to explore and plan their personal and career goals.

Under the Designing Your Life programme, students can use their first year to explore their interests and courses – via common entry programmes – before committing to a diploma.

Flexible learning pathways will be provided through broad-based diplomas, which offer multidisciplinary learning with majors in areas like project management and sustainable technology.

Academically inclined students can opt for expertise-deepening programmes that offer certifications, specialist diplomas, or extended internships tailored to their interests​​.

Additionally, Republic Polytechnic (RP) will introduce 19 minor programmes for students to deepen or broaden their knowledge in specialised or interdisciplinary fields.

Broad-based minors include environmental sustainability and social media content marketing, among others.

Discipline-related minors will be in bioinformatics, infocomm security and immersive media.

RP is also launching two new diplomas.

The first in AI and data analytics will focus on machine learning, big data and ethical AI practices.

The second one, a diploma in design, will focus on interactive design, immersive technologies and user experience.

In addition, about 360 second-year students from selected science and engineering-related diploma courses will be eligible to apply for the Talent Advancement Programme (TAP), a partnership with 16 biopharmaceutical companies.

They will get to experience a 36-week internship in their final year, which RP says will offer unparalleled exposure to the inner workings of leading biopharmaceutical companies.

TAP also includes opportunities for involvement in industry-driven projects, allowing RP graduates to get a head start by securing roles in manufacturing, automation, engineering and supply chain, in the internship companies.

Nanyang Polytechnic

Students who pass the O-level computing examination can apply for credit exemptions when they enrol in the School of Information Technology.

This will save them 60 hours of curriculum time over a semester – which they can spend on developing other tech skills based on their interests.

This comes after a recent curriculum review found that the O-level computing subject and a foundational learning unit that all first-year IT students took had overlapping learning outcomes.

Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) will also launch two new diplomas in 2025. The diploma in aerospace engineering will cover both the mechanical and avionics specialisations in aerospace engineering.

As part of the course, students will design, build and repair drones, as well as work on a helicopter built from scratch.

In the new diploma course on sustainability in engineering with business, students cover both business and engineering aspects, with a focus on sustainability.

In partnership with Schneider Electric, students in this diploma programme will get to experience the company’s latest equipment and training materials through hands-on workshops and guest lectures, as well as acquire first-hand industry exposure and insights.

To meet the growing demands of Singapore’s digital economy, NYP is weaving AI into the course curriculum for three of its schools – Business Management, Information Technology, and Design and Media.

Learners will dabble in real-world projects in collaboration with industry partners to gain skills and knowledge to use AI effectively and responsibly.

In addition, as at January, all but one of NYP’s 37 diplomas and first-year taster programmes have transitioned to a new learning model that develops students’ competencies to accomplish specific work tasks instead of traditional rote-learning modules.

The final diploma to transition to the new model in 2026 will be in infocomm and media engineering.

Singapore Polytechnic

Singapore Polytechnic’s (SP) School of Business will launch the Business Essentials Through Action programme for all first-year business students. Teams of students who develop feasible business plans will receive $1,000 in seed funding.

With a key emphasis on social impact, the programme offers a mix of industry mentorship and hands-on experience via venture creation.

New modules such as photovoltaic system design and smart grid and building energy management will be introduced as part of the diploma in electrical and electronic engineering.

The additions cater for the third-year specialisation in sustainable energy, which was rolled out by the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2024.

Key focus areas also include electric vehicle technology, hydrogen and fuel cell technology, and energy storage.

SP said the specialisation equips students with industry-relevant skills to work on power systems, clean energy and low-carbon alternatives.

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that students under the University Pathway Programme could read modules from selected local universities during their final semester instead of from their third semester. This has been corrected. The story has also been edited for clarity.