Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level

The Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (O-level) examination is held annually in Singapore. The examinations are mainly set by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), while Mother Tongue subjects such as Chinese, Malay and Tamil and Combined Humanities (Social Studies) are set by the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE).

The examination is taken by students at the end of their fourth (for Express Stream) or fifth (for Normal Academic Stream) year in secondary school, mostly at age 16. The system is equivalent to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), taken by international candidates including Singapore students who take the exam as private candidates,as well as the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination taken by students in the United Kingdom. O-level (O' Grades in Scotland) examinations were conducted in the United Kingdom until when they were replaced by the GCSE examinations. Whether or not the GCSE is an improvement over its predecessor is a topic of controversial debate.

Recent studies show that approximately 30,000 students take Singapore-Cambridge O-Level exams annually.

The test questions are created by the examiners from the University of Cambridge International Examinations (UCIE), with the exception of the Mother Tongue subjects and Social Studies component of Combined Humanities, which are set in Singapore. After the examination, papers are sent to Cambridge (in Britain) for marking, excluding the exceptions as mentioned above (Social Studies and Mother Tongue) which are marked by Singaporean examiners instead. In this case, the personal details of the student are omitted with the use of the Integrated Examination System where barcode labels are used. Local teachers would not be able to recognize scripts from students of his or her own school as the candidates' names are neither written on the papers nor printed on the labels, hence preventing malpractice of teachers.

Candidates are graded based on their performance relative to the cohort. A grade in one GCE exam subject is a number with an accompanying letter. In descending order, the grades are: A (1,2), B (3,4), C (5,6), D7, E8, and F9. A grade of C6 or better is considered an O-level pass. Obtaining a pass in one or more subjects will lead to a Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level). Candidates whose subject(s) are denoted as 'Absent' - should they be absent from any component(s) for the subject - will not have the subject listed on the certificate; this is likewise for those who obtain a Grade 9, though it will appear on the result slip.

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