JAE Admission criteria to institutions – Joint Admissions Exercise;- The Ministry of Education (MOE) formulates and implements education policies on education structure, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. It oversees the management and development of Government-funded schools, and the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities.
JAE Admission criteria to institutions
- JC
- MI
- Polytechnics
- ITE
To be eligible for admission to a junior college, you must meet these 2 criteria:
- Your L1R5 must not exceed 20.
- Meet the grade requirements for specific subjects.
1. Subjects in L1R5 (L1R5 = First Language + 5 Relevant Subjects)
| L1R5 | Subjects |
| L1 | English or Higher Mother Tongue Language (MTL) |
| R1 | Any 1 of these subjects:
|
| R2 | Mathematics or Science |
| R3 | Any 1 of these subjects:
|
| R4, R5 | Any 2 GCE O-Level subjects except Religious Knowledge |
What cannot be used in the same aggregate computation
- Grades for both Higher MTL (such as Higher Chinese, Higher Malay and Higher Tamil) and MTL (such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil). For example, if Higher MTL is used as the first language, MTL cannot be used as a relevant subject.
- “Merit” and “Pass” grades for the Mother Tongue ‘B’ Syllabus (Chinese ‘B’, Malay ‘B’ and Tamil ‘B’).
2. Grade requirements for specific subjects
| Subject | Grade |
| English Language | 1-6 |
| Elementary or Additional Mathematics | 1-7 |
| Any 1 Mother Tongue Language (MTL)
MTL: Chinese, Malay, Tamil MTL-in-lieu: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Burmese, Thai |
*There is no Higher level or ‘B’ Syllabus for MTL-in-lieu |
Conditional admission
If you do not meet the subject requirements, you are eligible for conditional admission when you meet one of these criteria for your L1R5 gross aggregate score:
- 15 or less
- Between 16 and 20 (both scores inclusive), and with grades of A1 or A2 in all 5 Relevant Subjects.
Bonus points for admission
Bonus points are awarded for attainment in co-curricular activities (CCA), language grades and school affiliation.
These points are deducted from your O-Level gross aggregate score to compute the net aggregate score.
You can get a maximum of 4 bonus points from a combination of any of these achievements:
| Type of bonus points | Bonus points |
| CCA grade: Excellent, A1 or A2 for admission to all institutions | 2 |
| CCA grade: Good, or from B3 to C6 for admission to all institutions | 1 |
| English and Higher Mother Tongue Language grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Chinese or Malay Special Programmes or Bahasa Indonesia grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Selection of your affiliated JC as your 1st or 1st and 2nd choices. | 2 |
You can get an additional 2 bonus points if you are selected for the Chinese, Malay or Tamil Language Elective Programme offered in some JCs.
To be eligible for admission to Millennia Institute (MI), you must meet these 2 criteria:
- Your L1R4 must not exceed 20.
- Meet the grade requirements for specific subjects.
1. Subjects in L1R4 (L1R4 = First Language + 4 Relevant Subjects)
| L1R4 | Subjects |
| L1 | English or Higher Mother Tongue Language (MTL) |
| R1, R2 | Any 2 of these subjects:
|
| R3, R4 | Any 2 GCE O-Level subjects except Religious Knowledge |
What cannot be used in the same aggregate computation
- Grades for both Higher MTL (such as Higher Chinese, Higher Malay and Higher Tamil) and MTL (such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil). For example, if Higher MTL is used as the first language, MTL cannot be used as a relevant subject.
- “Merit” and “Pass” grades for the Mother Tongue ‘B’ Syllabus (Chinese ‘B’, Malay ‘B’ and Tamil ‘B’).
2. Grade requirements for specific subjects
| Subject | Grade |
| English Language | 1-6 |
| Elementary or Additional Mathematics | 1-7 |
| Any 1 Mother Tongue Language (MTL)
MTL: Chinese, Malay, Tamil MTL-in-lieu: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Burmese, Thai |
*There is no Higher level or ‘B’ Syllabus for MTL-in-lieu |
Conditional admission
If you do not meet the subject requirements, you are eligible for conditional admission when you meet one of these criteria for your L1R4 gross aggregate score:
- 15 or less
- Between 16 and 20 (both scores inclusive), and with grades of A1 or A2 in all 4 Relevant Subjects.
Bonus points for admission
Bonus points are awarded for attainment in co-curricular activities (CCA), language grades and school affiliation.
These points are deducted from your O-Level gross aggregate score to compute the net aggregate score.
You can get a maximum of 4 bonus points from a combination of any of these achievements:
| Type of bonus points | Bonus points |
| CCA grade: Excellent, A1 or A2 for admission to all institutions | 2 |
| CCA grade: Good, or from B3 to C6 for admission to all institutions. | 1 |
| English and Higher Mother Tongue Language grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Chinese or Malay Special Programmes or Bahasa Indonesia grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Selection of your affiliated JC as your 1st or 1st and 2nd choices. | 2 |
You can get an additional 2 bonus points if you are selected for the Chinese, Malay or Tamil Language Elective Programme offered in some JCs.
To be eligible for admission to a polytechnic, you must meet these 2 criteria:
- Your ELR2B2 net aggregate score must not exceed 26 for all courses except for Diploma in Nursing (ELR2B2 must not exceed 28). ELR2B2 = English Language + 2 Relevant Subjects + 2 Best Subjects – bonus points. Learn more about aggregate computation for polytechnic courses (37kb).
- Meet the minimum entry requirements of the course that you are applying for. Find these requirements in CourseFinder.
Bonus points for admission
Bonus points are awarded for attainment in co-curricular activities (CCA), language grades and school affiliation.
These points are deducted from your O-Level gross aggregate score to compute the net aggregate score.
You can get a maximum of 4 bonus points from a combination of any of these achievements:
| Type of bonus points | Bonus points |
| CCA grade: Excellent, A1 or A2 for admission to all institutions | 2 |
| CCA grade: Good, or from B3 to C6 for admission to all institutions | 1 |
| English and Higher Mother Tongue Language grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Chinese or Malay Special Programmes or Bahasa Indonesia grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Selection of your affiliated JC as your 1st or 1st and 2nd choices. | 2 |
You can get an additional 2 bonus points if you are selected for the Chinese, Malay or Tamil Language Elective Programme offered in some JCs.
To be eligible for admission to a Higher Nitec course at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), you must meet these 2 criteria:
- You must have sat for at least 5 O-Level subjects over a maximum of 2 years.
- Meet the minimum entry requirements of the course that you are applying for. Find these requirements in CourseFinder.
Learn more about aggregate computation for Higher Nitec courses (73kb).
Bonus points for admission
Bonus points are awarded for attainment in co-curricular activities (CCA), language grades and school affiliation.
These points are deducted from your O-Level gross aggregate score to compute the net aggregate score.
You can get a maximum of 4 bonus points from a combination of any of these achievements:
| Type of bonus points | Bonus points |
| CCA grade: Excellent, A1 or A2 for admission to all institutions | 2 |
| CCA grade: Good, or from B3 to C6 for admission to all institutions | 1 |
| English and Higher Mother Tongue Language grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Chinese or Malay Special Programmes or Bahasa Indonesia grade: A1 to C6 for admission to JC or MI | 2 |
| Selection of your affiliated JC as your 1st or 1st and 2nd choices. | 2 |