SINGAPORE – With a better understanding of their aspirations and encouraged by more polytechnic graduates winning places at the local universities, more O-level school leavers are choosing the polytechnic route despite qualifying for junior college (JC).

Nearly half – around 49 per cent – of the students who were admitted to the polytechnics in the 2024 Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) were eligible for JC, up from 45 per cent in 2023.

In 2014, the figure was 40 per cent.

The JAE is held in January every year for O-level students.

Of the 19,200 candidates who were posted to a post-secondary institution in the 2024 JAE, 52 per cent went to the polytechnics and 39 per cent to JCs and Millennia Institute (MI), figures from the Ministry of Education (MOE) show.

To qualify for a JC, students need better results. Their L1R5 score – based on English language and five relevant subjects – must not exceed 20 points.

Polytechnics require grades for English language and four other subjects to not exceed 26 points, although for the more popular courses, successful applicants need to score under 12 points.

All in, 20,800 students enrolled in full-time diploma courses across the five polytechnics, including those who entered through non-JAE pathways like the Early Admissions Exercise and Polytechnic Foundation Programme, said MOE.

About 270 students who entered the polytechnics in 2024 came from the JCs and MI, switching midway through their studies or after completing their A-level exams.

Students who picked a polytechnic over junior college said mindsets are changing, and polytechnics are now seen as a pathway of choice embraced by many of their peers and their parents. The five polytechnics are Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic.

One of these students is Anjali Curic, 17, who applied for early admission into engineering science at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, despite having O-level results that qualify her for the top Integrated Programme schools, including Raffles Institution and Hwa Chong Institution.

The School of Science and Te...