For a generation of Singaporean parents, the route was obvious. Get the child into JC, then university, then a good job. That was the plan, and it worked.
The modern world has moved on though, and so has the education system, and you might just be making the wrong call for your kids if you still think the JC route is the only way to get ahead.
Why? Because without anyone noticing, the Polytechnic (Diploma) education of our generation, the one that was seen as ‘Second Rate’, has become the ‘First Choice’ for smarter students who want an edge in their career.
Consider this.
1. The Entry Requirement For 65.8% Of Polytechnic Diploma Courses Is Tougher Than The Entry Score For JC
In fact, 87.9% of the courses that Singapore Polytechnic offers (29 out of 33!) have an entrance score that is equivalent or tougher than that of JC, meaning it’s harder to get into these diploma courses than qualifying for the A-Levels.
So don’t imagine that the quality of polytechnic students these days is not as sterling as those in JCs… you’d be surprised to learn that 1 out of 7 of these diploma courses have a SINGLE DIGIT entrance score of 9 or below, a very impressive score for any O-level student to achieve.
(For the curious few, I’m using the Poly ELR2B2 score vs the 2028 JC admission L1R4 score of 16 to fairly compare both systems.)
2. Unless The Child Wants To Study Law Or Medicine, The A-Levels Are Obsolete. Period.
#TrueStory #PTSD
Originally designed to prepare students for university courses, the A-level curriculum was meant to go very deep, very technical and narrow. However, in today’s job market, employers prefer workers with wide, practical knowledge.
The honest truth for us parents who have slaved through JC is that almost 80% of the things we were forced to memorise in those two years (differential equations, plant biology, Hamlet) almost never had any practical application in our working world.
Unfortunately, JCs do not teach market-ready skills but focus on academic content that is not valued by most of today’s employers, or head knowledge that they will pick up in university anyway.
3. On The Other Hand, Polytechnic Diploma Programmes Have Evolved
My daughter is currently in Year 1 of Singapore Polytechnic’s Human Resource Management with Psychology programme (because she wants to be a HR professional, like her Daddy!).
Imagine my surprise when she showed me what she had learnt in class.
- Advanced Excel functions (to me at least! XLOOKUP, SUMIFS/COUNTIFS)
- Pivot tables
- Robotic Process Automation via Microsoft Power Automate
- Data analytics and visualisation with Microsoft Power BI
- A year-long ‘live’ entrepreneurship project (The BETA Program)
As a Career Strategist, these are the types of skills I advise my ADULT clients to master if they want to get ahead in their careers, and I was so impressed that these are being taught as core curriculum in Year 1.
Obviously, a lot of thought has gone into matching market demands to curriculum development at the polytechnics and as an employer, I find that an edge over a head full of impressive but impractical factoids.
4. There Are More Pathways To University For Poly Graduates Than Ever
There was a time when Singapore universities reserved a very small quota for poly graduates and they had little hope of obtaining a degree unless they had rich parents to send them overseas.
The good news is, not anymore.
Over the past decade, the expansion of universities such as SIT, SUTD, and SUSS has structurally favoured diploma graduates, with poly students now making up roughly 37.5% of local university intakes annually.
Admissions have moved beyond grades alone to consider diploma relevance, projects, internships, and aptitude, which naturally benefits poly graduates with hands-on training.
In fact, NTU, NUS and SMU formally practice Aptitude-Based Admissions (ABA), where grades are only one part of the assessment. Applicants are evaluated holistically on leadership, work experience, portfolios, and interviews. This creates a genuine pathway for polytechnic diploma holders with strong applied capabilities and CCA achievements.
Hence, the diploma after the three-year programme isn’t the end, but the beginning of your child’s education journey.
5. The Poly Student May Graduate With A Degree At The Same Time As Their A-Level Friends, And Be Better Off
Yes, the diploma course is one year longer than the A-level programme.
However, there is a trend for local universities (subject to conditions) to grant ‘Advanced Placement Credits’ to diploma holders from related courses, in some cases effectively shaving up to a year off a degree, signalling formal recognition that a strong diploma already covers degree-level learning.
For example, Singapore Polytechnic has an SP-SMU Accelerated Pathway Programme (SP-SMU UAPP) that grants the student module exemptions when they enrol in Singapore Management University.
That means the traditional A-level route of “2 (in JC) + 4 (in Uni)” years is slowly being transformed into a “3 (in Poly) + 3 (in Uni)” format, culminating at a similar end-point at Year 6… except that in the latter case, the student graduates with BOTH a degree AND a diploma, signalling a more focused and experience-dense journey that employers would prefer over a plain-vanilla degree holder.
At the end of the day, one pathway is clearly better than the other, all things being equal.
However, there are three caveats.
Caveat 1: Either Way, It’s Still A Tough Slog To Get Into University
At the current moment for poly graduates, only the top 30% of each course will qualify for a local university, and only the top 10% will qualify for university spots that are highly sought after. For example, to get into SMU, the 10th percentile score for 2024 was 3.7 GPA.
So this pathway is no walk in the park and the student needs to be mentally prepared to put in a lot of effort to get into the faculty of their choice.
Caveat 2: Know Your Child’s Study Profile
Some students thrive in a structured, academic format with regular tests and exams and for them, the A-levels might be the better programme.
However, others may thrive in a less stressful, more versatile but more independent learning environment, and a regimented, memorisation-driven curriculum might be a turn-off for them. For this group, the polytechnic route might be more suited to their pedagogy.
Know your child’s learning profile before making any major recommendations for them.
Caveat 3: Let Your Teenager Make Their Own Decision
Ultimately, it’s their life and they will have to bear the consequences of their own decisions.
As parents, we can advise, guide and provide our perspectives, but we will need to respect their final decision and support them wherever they go.
We can only wish the best for our children, which is more or less the sentiment Rod Stewart was reaching for in his 1988 hit, Forever Young. Whatever road they choose, we’re right behind them.
Wishing you and your younglings all the best!
