The General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level is an educational qualification offered in Singapore. The examinations are jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore Examinations and Assessments Board (SEAB) and University of Cambridge International Examinations (UCIE).
Description
The O-Level examinations are conducted annually in Singapore, taken by students after four years (Secondary Four) in the Express stream or five years in the Normal Academic stream. It is the rough equivalent of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) offered in Great Britain.
The University of Cambridge International Examinations (UCIE) is the examining authority for subjects conducted in the English language, foreign languages and Non-Tamil Indian Languages. The examining authority for other subjects such as the mother tongue languages is the Ministry of Education.
Comparison with the British O-levels
The O-level examinations are a product of the colonial era, as the O-levels were too offered in England until 1988. Although the English O-levels were examined by various examination boards like the University of London, the Singaporean O-levels have always been examined only by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.
Examinable Subjects
| Subject Code
|
Subject
|
Notes
|
| 1128
|
English Language
|
|
| 1135
|
Arabic as a 3rd Language
|
For school candidates only.
|
| 1136
|
Bahasa Indonesia as a 3rd Language
|
| 2049
|
Religious Studies (Bible Knowledge)
|
For private candidates only.
|
| 2065
|
Literature in English
|
|
| 2174
|
History
|
|
| 2204
|
Combined Humanities
|
Last year of examination in 2017. May be offered to repeat school candidates from 5N in 2018.
|
| 2236
|
Geography
|
|
| 2267
|
Combined Humanities
|
Last year of examination in 2018
|
| 2272
|
Humanities (Social Studies, Geography) |
Offered from 2018 to replace Combined Humanities syllabus 2267.
|
| 2273
|
Humanities (Social Studies, History)
|
| 2274
|
Humanities (Social Studies, Literature in English)
|
| 2275
|
Humanities (Social Studies, Literature in Chinese)
|
| 2276
|
Humanities (Social Studies, Literature in Malay)
|
| 2277
|
Humanities (Social Studies, Literature in Tamil)
|
| 3012
|
French
|
|
| 3028
|
German
|
|
| 3034
|
Spanish
|
For school candidates only.
|
| 3186
|
Arabic
|
For private candidates only.
|
| 3194
|
Hindi
|
|
| 3196
|
Urdu
|
|
| 3199
|
Gujarati
|
|
| 3203
|
Panjabi
|
|
| 3215
|
Bengali
|
|
| 3249
|
Burmese
|
|
| 3260
|
Thai
|
|
| 3261
|
Japanese
|
|
| 4047
|
Additional Mathematics
|
|
| 4048
|
Mathematics
|
|
| 5059
|
Physics (SPA)
|
Last year of examination in 2018, to be replaced by revised versions (6091, 6092 & 6093). For school candidates only.
|
| 5073
|
Chemistry (SPA)
|
| 5158
|
Biology (SPA)
|
| 5076
|
Science (Physics, Chemistry)
|
|
| 5077
|
Science (Physics, Biology)
|
|
| 5078
|
Science (Chemistry, Biology)
|
|
| 6063
|
Electronics
|
New subject from 2018. For school candidates only.
|
| 6085
|
Music
|
For school candidates only.
|
| 6086
|
Higher Music
|
| 6087
|
Food and Nutrition
|
| 6091
|
Physics
|
Revised syllabus from 2018. Replacing 5059, 5073 & 5158 respectively.
|
| 6092
|
Chemistry
|
| 6093
|
Biology
|
| 6123
|
Art
|
For school candidates only.
|
| 6124
|
Higher Art
|
| 7051
|
Design and Technology
|
| 7155
|
Computing
|
New subject from 2018. For school candidates only.
|
| 7175
|
Principles of Accounts
|
|
Special Papers (For school candidates only)
OSIE Cambridge Subjects
| Subject Code
|
Subject
|
Notes
|
| 2286
|
Economics
|
|
| 5999
|
Drama
|
|
| 6080
|
Physical Education
|
|
| 7085
|
Business Studies
|
|
Note: The above electives are applicable only for candidates from schools approved to offer the subjects.
|
Applied Subjects
| Subject Code
|
Subject
|
Notes
|
| NP04
|
Biotechnology
|
|
| NP05
|
Design Studies
|
|
Note: The above Applied Subjects are applicable only for candidates from schools approved to offer the subjects. Candidates registering for Applied Subjects will be charged subject fees cited by the examining agencies.
|
Local Papers
Examined in Chinese
| Subject Code
|
Subject
|
Notes
|
| 1116
|
Higher Chinese
|
|
| 1153
|
Chinese B^
|
|
| 1160
|
Chinese
|
|
| 1166
|
Chinese (Special Programme)
|
|
| 2093
|
Literature in Chinese
|
|
Examined in Tamil
| Subject Code
|
Subject
|
Notes
|
| 1147
|
Higher Tamil
|
|
| 1152
|
Tamil B^
|
|
| 1157
|
Tamil
|
|
| 2098
|
Literature in Tamil
|
|
|
Examined in Malay
| Subject Code
|
Subject
|
Notes
|
| 1117
|
Higher Malay
|
|
| 1133
|
Malay (Special Programme)
|
|
| 1148
|
Malay
|
|
| 1151
|
Malay B^
|
|
| 2080
|
Islamic Religious Knowledge
|
For private candidates only.
|
| 2238
|
Literature in Malay
|
Revised syllabus from 2018.
|
|
^: Are not O-Level subjects