A-Level results to be released on Feb 23
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The results of the 2017 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-Level) examination will be released next Friday (Feb 23).
Students can collect their results from their respective schools from 2.30pm on that day, the Ministry of Education and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board said in a joint media release on Wednesday.
Private candidates will be notified of their individual results by post. The result slips will be mailed on Feb 23 to the address provided by the candidates during the registration period.
Private candidates who have SingPass accounts can also use their account to obtain their results online from 2.30pm on the same day.
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2017 A-level results: 93% get at least 3 passes, second-best showing since 2006
Candidates taking the GCE A-level examination last year turned in the second-best performance since the curriculum was revised about 12 years ago.
Of the 12,502 students who sat last year's examinations as school candidates, 11,624 received at least three H2 passes, as well as a pass in General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) on Friday (Feb 23).
Last year's passing rate of 93 per cent improved on the 92.6 per cent achieved by the 2016 cohort. Students in 2015 set the benchmark for the highest pass rate since the curriculum was revised in 2006, at 93.1 per cent.
Candidates' wait for their results ended at 2.30pm on Friday, with most collecting them from their schools.
Private candidates will receive their results by post, but those with SingPass accounts can obtain them through the Internet Examination Results Release System (iERRS) on www.seab.gov.sg immediately.
Pioneer Junior College student Lee Zhi Xuan, 19, was one candidate whose grit and determination were duly rewarded today.
At the end of his first year, he almost dropped out of school after his father was diagnosed with colon cancer — the same disease that had claimed his mother’s life just three years earlier.
“I wanted to take a break from school and spend whatever time I had left with him,” he said. But at the assurance and encouragement of his father, he decided to continue with his education.
The older of two sons tried at the same time to support his father, often accompanying him to chemotherapy sessions after school and even bringing his books to the hospital to study when his father was hospitalised during the examination period.
“I just kept pushing on and didn’t give up,” he said, adding that his teachers were also sources of encouragement.
He was rewarded for his resilience and perseverance today when he received five As and a B.
His results make him eligible for the pharmacy course at the National University of Singapore that he hopes to pursue. His desire to become an oncology pharmacist was ignited during the time he spent in the hospital with his parents.
“I saw patients slowly recovering every day and it made me happy to see them being healthy again. I want to be a part of that journey next time,” he said. His father has gone into remission and is now recovering.
Looking back on how far he has come, he added: “I feel like the struggle was worth it. The sacrifices I had to make, like time with friends, having to set aside my emotions... everything was worth it in the end.”
Another student, Ms Gwen Tan, 21, took a longer road to graduation than most of her peers, but had something to celebrate at the end of it.
In her first year at Millennia Institute, she spent close to every day of the week on basketball practice. This left her with little time and energy to concentrate on her work, and her results suffered as a result.
She ended up having to repeat the school year, but resolved to be more diligent.
“I dropped my external basketball commitments, kept up with my tutorials and paid more attention in class,” she said.
Yesterday, the elder of two daughters of an accountant and factory manager scored two As, a vast improvement from failing all her exams in her first promotional exam four years ago. She plans to pursue a course in either science or sociology at a local university this August.
In a Facebook post on Friday morning, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wished candidates waiting to hear how they did, "all the best".
"Whatever your results are, remember that this is just one step in your lifelong learning journey," he wrote.
"We are not only defined by result slips or certificates, but by what we achieve in life and what impact we make on those around us."
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238 A-level chemistry answer scripts from 4 Singapore JCs stolen in Britain
A parcel containing A-level chemistry answer scripts from 238 Singapore students was stolen from a courier van transporting the papers to an examiner in Britain last November.
Despite extensive efforts to trace the scripts for Chemistry Paper 3, which carries 35 per cent of the marks for the subject, they have not been recovered.
Meanwhile, the 238 affected students from four junior colleges - Anderson JC, Anglo-Chinese JC, Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang JC - have been awarded final grades based on their performance in the other three chemistry papers and their cohort's performance in chemistry.
The 238 affected students make up about 3 per cent of the total 8,843 students who sat the paper.
To check for consistency, Cambridge Assessment and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) also took into consideration the candidates' school-based examination results.
SEAB said all 238 candidates obtained at least a pass grade, with 81 per cent of them scoring As and Bs. More than 50 per cent are said to have scored As.
"All of them attained better grades or maintained their grades compared to their school-based examinations," said a SEAB spokesman on Friday (Feb 23).
Those unhappy with the awarded grades can also choose to resit Paper 3 in April and results will be released by mid-May 2018.
In addition, candidates in full-time national service have the option of resitting the paper in November and their results will be released by February 2019.
The re-examination will be based on the same curriculum that the candidates had been taught in school and pegged at the same standard as the 2017 paper. The examination format will also remain unchanged.
Those who choose to resit the paper will have the better of the two grades recorded.
SEAB will work with local universities to ensure that their applications for places or scholarships are not affected.
When asked why SEAB informed the students about the incident only on Friday, it said that informing the students earlier without being able to share their awarded grades would have caused undue anxiety.
SEAB also said that grade projections for the 238 affected candidates could be done only after all chemistry papers for the whole cohort had been marked.
Ms Tan Lay Choo, chief executive of SEAB, said the board has taken all necessary steps to ensure that the affected candidates were not put at a disadvantage and were given a valid and fair assessment.
She said that Cambridge Assessment and SEAB have an established procedure to award grades to candidates who miss a paper with valid reasons, such as illness. When the weighting of the paper does not exceed 50 per cent of the total score, a re-examination is not required.
This procedure is a well-established practice among British examination boards.
Ms Tan said that Cambridge has given its assurance that it would review its processes to prevent a recurrence.
She added: "We understand the concerns that the affected candidates may have. SEAB and schools are in contact with them and their parents and will continue to provide them with the necessary support."
The parcel containing the scripts was one of eight parcels stolen from a locked courier van. It was the only parcel containing examination scripts.
The courier reported the theft to the British police but efforts to recover the scripts have so far been unsuccessful. Police investigations are still ongoing.
This is the second time that Singapore examination scripts have gone missing. The last time was in 1993, when the then University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate lost the O-level scripts of 259 Singapore students who sat the English literature paper.
The scripts which were sent to an examiner were lost in the British postal service and never recovered.
The students were awarded grades based on their performance in their schools' preliminary examinations. They were also given the option to resit the examination.
Mr Roderic Gillespie, director for assessment at Cambridge International, said Cambridge Assessment takes its responsibilities very seriously to ensure that all transport arrangements for examination scripts are secure.
He said the agency has been working with the courier company and British police to locate the stolen answer scripts but unfortunately, they have not been recovered.
"The security of examination papers is of the utmost importance to us. Cambridge Assessment will continue to review the situation with the police and the courier company."
The Straits Times spoke to four affected students, and three out of the four were happy with their A and B grades.
Nanyang JC student Zou Pei Pei, 19, who got a B, said the majority of her affected classmates did well and were not planning to resit the paper. “I believe the predicted marks were quite fair and they took into account many things.”
Another student from the same JC said he scored an A despite not answering a third of Paper 3. “I still got an A even though I was expecting a B or C. However, God listened to my prayers and this incident happened, resulting in my distinction.”
A Hwa Chong Institution student, though, was unhappy at the B grade she was awarded and said she is considering resitting the paper. “I couldn’t believe it when we were told of the incident. Anyway, I think I could have managed an A, that’s why I am not happy with my B. It matters when you are applying for a highly competitive university course.”
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It's been a long time since I last posted here but I would like to dedicate this post to UltimaOnline for providing challenging free chemistry questions and consultation of chemistry questions on this site at no cost!Really appreciated it and that really did play an instrumental role in helping me score an A for H2 Chemistry.
Did well for my other subjects too.
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Originally posted by MapPwner:
It's been a long time since I last posted here but I would like to dedicate this post to UltimaOnline for providing challenging free chemistry questions and consultation of chemistry questions on this site at no cost!Really appreciated it and that really did play an instrumental role in helping me score an A for H2 Chemistry.
Did well for my other subjects too.
^_^Yo MapPwner, 2019 ORD? Which Uni course did you get a place in? Medicine?
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Originally posted by UltimaOnline:
^_^Yo MapPwner, 2019 ORD? Which Uni course did you get a place in? Medicine?
Yes 2019 ORD.
Uni course wise NUS havent reply yet.I trying 1st place Med,2nd place Pharm Science.
NTU offered me biological sci with 2nd major in medicinal chem and pharmacology but I might not be keen ah cos of the career prospects with it,even though I somewhat interested.But Pharm Science and Med seems more interesting to me.
Edit:Computing seems interesting too,but still considering about it.
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Originally posted by MapPwner:
Yes 2019 ORD.
Uni course wise NUS havent reply yet.I trying 1st place Med,2nd place Pharm Science.
NTU offered me biological sci with 2nd major in medicinal chem and pharmacology but I might not be keen ah cos of the career prospects with it,even though I somewhat interested.But Pharm Science and Med seems more interesting to me.
Good. Always give your ambitions your best shot, so you won't have regrets. -
One-third of students affected by theft of A-level scripts opt to take the paper again
About one-third of the 238 students whose scripts for an A-level chemistry paper were stolen in Britain last year have opted to sit the paper again.
Of the 75 who registered for it, 57 chose April to take the exam and the rest, November, said the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board on Monday (March 12).
The first re-examination date is on April 25, 2018.
The November date has yet to be fixed and the option is for candidates doing full-time national service.
The students had earlier been given a grade based on their performance in the other three chemistry papers, as well as their cohort's performance in the paper with lost scripts.
But they were given the option to resit the paper and have the better of their two grades recorded in their result slip and certificate.
The students, who were told the news on Feb 23, had until March 9 to register for the re-examination.
The scripts, which were stolen from a courier's van, belonged to students from Anderson Junior College, Anglo-Chinese Junior College, Nanyang Junior College and Hwa Chong Institution.
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Parliament: Exams board studying option of scanning, marking answer scripts electronically
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) is studying the option of scanning and marking answer scripts electronically, said Senior Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary in Parliament on Tuesday (March 20).
"This would potentially reduce the risks, such as theft or misplacement, associated with transporting hardcopy examination scripts," he added in response a question from Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok), who asked if examination scripts can be scanned or digitised before they are sent to Cambridge Assessment in Britain for marking.
A parcel of 238 A-level Chemistry scripts from Singapore were stolen from a delivery van in Britain last November en route to Cambridge Assessment. The theft came to light last month (Feb).
Despite extensive efforts to trace the scripts for Chemistry Paper 3, which carries 35 per cent of the marks for the subject, they have not been recovered.
The affected students from Anderson JC, Anglo-Chinese JC, Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang JC were eventually given a grade for their A-level exams based on their performance in the other three chemistry papers, as well as their cohort's performance in Chemistry Paper 3.
They were also given the option to resit the paper and have the better of their two grades recorded in their result slip and certificate. One-third of the affected students eventually chose to do so.
Dr Janil noted that Cambridge Assessment has said it was the first time exam scripts were stolen, and "it is taking this unfortunate incident very seriously".
They have assured the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the SEAB that they will review their processes to ensure the security of examination papers and scripts, including a full scrutiny of the courier services offered by its suppliers, he said.
Mr Murali also asked how the SEAB ensured other students were not disadvantaged by its decision to give the affected candidates a presumptive grade based on their performance in other papers.
To this, Dr Janil said it is an established method that has been used for other candidates, such as those who are unable to submit every component of the exam due to illnesses or other circumstances.
The MOE, the SEAB and Cambridge Assessment have a number of mathematical models developed over time that can predict or triangulate a candidate's final performance in an exam, and can do so "quite robustly", he added.
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The good old days of waiting and receiving my GCE O level results and subsequently confirming my place in Nanyang Junior College. The pride and joy of going to the tailor with my dad to have my brown NYJC uniform made. The excitement of wearing my brown NYJC uniform for the very first time. Glad I could still remember my Nanyang JC days of 1981.