GCE Ordinary Level

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.