Junior college admission criteria to change from L1R5 to L1R4 in 2028

SINGAPORE: From 2028, students seeking admission into junior colleges will be assessed based on five O-Level subjects instead of six, the Education Ministry announced on Thursday (Mar 6). 

Under the current L1R5 criteria, students must attain a score of 20 or better across six O-Level subjects to qualify for a junior college (JC). 

The L1R5 aggregate includes one language subject, one humanities subject, one science or mathematics subject, one additional humanities, science or mathematics subject, and two other best-performing subjects. 

With the implementation of L1R4 from the 2028 admission exercise, students will need to score 16 points or better across five subjects, removing one of their best-scoring subjects from consideration. The requirement to pass a mother tongue language subject (D7 or better) remains unchanged.

For the Millennia Institute (MI), the admission threshold will remain at 20 points under L1R4, but students must include three subjects from both the humanities, and science or mathematics subject groups, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said in a press release. 

Despite the change, the ministry said it expects the proportion and profile of students qualifying for JC to remain largely unchanged. 

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, speaking in parliament on his ministry’s plans for the year, said the revised criteria will allow students to take fewer subjects or opt for some at a less demanding level.

This frees up time for students to pursue their interests, strengthen their communication and collaboration skills through co-curricular activities and discover new strengths through school programmes, he added.