What do H1, H2 and H3 in JC mean?

GCE A-Level Singapore Special

 

Advanced level, better known as the A’levels is the national exam that students will take after the GCE Ordinary Level aka O’levels. Alternatively, secondary students in Singapore can proceed to other forms of tertiary education, which is any one of the following: ITE and  Polytechnic.

 

There are 3 different tertiary options for a student after their O Level results; ITE (Nitec or Higher Nitec), Polytechnic and Junior College (JC) or Millennia Institution (MI). 

Junior College

The rumour in the grapevine has always been that by passing your O’levels you prove that you’re not an idiot… but by passing your A’ levels you prove that you’re smart”. Whether this holds any truth remains open to speculation, but what is real is that in order to enter any Junior Colleges in Singapore, students have to either go through the traditional academic route (usually the top 20 percent of the cohort) where they will have to excel at their L1R5 which means first language plus best other 5 subjects (The L1R4 would be for Polytechnic/ITE entry). Do note that a maximum of 4 points can be deducted from a student’s raw L1R4/5 score. (The Raw Scores is the score students have obtained without any deduction of points from CCA or Higher Mother Tongue Language (HMTL). 

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Students can also enjoy 2 points from their CCA achievements (usually leadership, competition participation etc) and 2 points can also be deducted from passing their Higher Mother Tongue Language in Secondary school. 

 

What does entering Junior College in Singapore mean? 

When students choose to join a Junior College, this means students will embark on a 2-year programme and take the GCE Cambridge A-Level examinations after that. The Singapore GCE Cambridge A-Level is slightly different from the International Cambridge A-Level. For students who are from IP schools, they will join their affiliated junior colleges where some students are from the O’levels. For instance, a student from Temasek IP Programme will progress to Temasek Junior College while students from RI and RGS will join Raffles Junior College, now known as Raffles Institution located at RI. Some schools like River Valley High School offers both Junior and Senior High, students will stay within their school (usually moving to a new building for their final two years). 

Not sure about what are the cut-off points requirements to enter Junior College? 

These are the cut-off points for your reference. 

Below is a table stating the cut-off points for 2021 for the different streams in JC, ranked according to alphabetical order. Please note that you will need to check the requirements each year with your choice colleges. For cut off points in 2022, you will need to check back here again. 

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List of Junior Colleges in Singapore Arts Science / IB
Anderson Serangoon Junior College, ASRJC 11 11
Anglo-Chinese Junior College, ACJC 9 8
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), ACSI 5
Catholic Junior College, CJC 13 13
Dunman High School, DHS 9 8
Eunoia Junior College, EJC 8 7
Hwa Chong Institution, HCI 5 4
Jurong Pioneer Junior College, JPJC 16 15
Nanyang Junior College, NYJC 6 6
National Junior College, NJC 8 7
Raffles Institution, RI 5 4
River Valley High School, RVHS 9 8
St. Andrew’s Junior College, SAJC 11 10
St. Joseph’s Institution, SJI 8
Tampines Meridian Junior College, TMJC 13 13
Temasek Junior College, TJC 9 9
Victoria Junior College, VJC 8 7
Yishun Innova Junior College, YIJC 20 20

Millennia Institution (MI) – An Alternative to Junior College

Junior colleges are not the only way to A’levels. O’level graduates can also pursue a three-year course at Millennia Institution (MI), the only three-year pre university institution in Singapore Some parents may remember days where there used to be another Pre-University Insitute known as the Jurong Institute (JI). At MI, the school offers the same subjects and curriculum as the Junior Colleges in Singapore.  However, the only difference they have is that the Milennia Institution is a 3-year Pre-U course, while the other Junior Colleges offer only 2 years. To enter MI, the school will consider the student’s L1R4 instead of their L1R5. 

Millennia Institute is the only Centralised Institute offering a 3-year Pre-University course, leading to the GCE ‘A’ Level certification. For students who took the GCE ‘O’ Level examination and are eligible to apply for admission through the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE), the minimum requirements specified below must be met.

 

  1. Aggregate Range for L1R4 ≤ 20.
  2. Meet Subject Requirements:
Subject Requirement
English Language A1 to C6
Mother Tongue Language:
       Chinese Language, Malay Language, Tamil Language
OR Higher Chinese Language, Higher Malay Language, Higher Tamil Language
OR Chinese Language ‘B’ Syllabus, Malay Language ‘B’ Syllabus, Tamil Language ‘B’ Syllabus
A1 to D7
A1 to E8
Merit or Pass
Mathematics:
       Mathematics
OR Additional Mathematics
A1 to D7
 A1 to D7

Students who satisfy the conditional admission criteria and are conditionally admitted to Millennia Institute would be required to re-sit for the relevant language and/or mathematics papers by the following year’s GCE ‘O’ Level Examination.

For more information, please access the MOE website

Your ultimate guide to Singapore GCE Cambridge A-Level Curriculum

Step 1: Choose a stream.

Depending on your score, you will be eligible for different streams Science or Arts when they are choosing for their post-secondary choices. For students, who wish to pursue Business Management at A’level, the option will be to join MI as most JCs do not offer this subject. 

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Step 2: Find a college that offers you the best standing

Consider your preferred stream over your dream Junior College. Most students, if not all, have their ideal Junior Colleges that they want to enter. Some are doing so because of a particular school’s brand name or heritage, others want to keep their family tradition and join their parent’s alma mater, whatever the motivation, it is worth to take a moment and consider “What’s at stake?”. Ultimately, you are looking for entry to University and it is pivotal to note that some students do consider entering a lower-tier JC so that they can stay in the science stream which offers them more options to courses in University. 

Step 3: Decide on what are your H1, H2, H3 subjects

The H in H1, H2 and H3 stands for Higher. 

To enter University, you need this minimum subject combination:

  • Three H2 content-based subjects 
  • One H1 content-based subject 
  • Compulsory H1 subjects
    • Mother-Tongue Language (MTL) if you did not take higher Chinese at O’levels
    • General Paper
    • Project Work 

Do note that A-Level students must take at least one contrasting subject. What is considered a contrasting subject? For Science stream students, you must take at least one subject from the Humanities & the Arts. On the other hand, Arts stream students must take at least one Science subject, usually H1 or H2 Mathematics. 

What is the difference between H1 and H2 subjects? 

The difference between H1 and H2 subjects is similar to IB Standard Level versus IB Higher Level. H1 subjects cover lesser topics compared to H2 subjects. For instance, H2 Economics is worth 20 rank points and will cover more topics and there are P1 and P2 (Essays). Economics is a challenging subject but most students will choose to take it because it is a practical subject. If you need help in Economics tuition, contact us today via whatsapp us or email.  

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Why do some students take four H2 subjects?

Some students can take four H2 content-based subjects if they meet a minimum cut-off points requirement and for students who truly excel in a particular domain, they can choose to pursue H3 content-based subjects if they are eligible. 

How will H3 subjects be graded?

H3 is an additional subject on top of all your H1 and H2 subjects, therefore, you have to be mentally prepared to devote more and sufficient time to all your subjects.  H3 subjects are not graded into the rank points. They are additional subjects that are taken on top of their H1 and H2 subjects. H3 subjects can allow students to be exempted from modules in their university, depending on the course and module taken by the student.

Grading
H3 Grade Marks (%)
Distinction 70 to 100
Merit 55 to 69
Pass 45 to 54
Ungraded 0 to 44

Frequently Asked Questions by JC Students:

What is H1, H2, H3?

H1 subjects are worth 1 point and H2 subjects are worth 2 points. H3 subjects are ONLY offered to students who are academically able to cope with the additional subject(s) on top of their H1 and H2 subjects. Usually, schools will decide who are the students they will be “inviting” to take H3 subjects. Students who choose to take H3 subjects usually want to stand out among competitors who are choosing a similar University course. However, it is important to note that the demands of H3 subjects are considerable, if students are not able to excel in H3 subjects at A’levels it may backfire instead. 

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What are rank points?

The maximum number of rank points (RP) for admission to university is 90. A higher score would place a student in a better position for admissions to university. 

Grade Scores H1 Ranking Points H2 Ranking Points
A 70% and above 10 20
B 60% to 69% 8.75 17.5
C 55% to 59% 7.5 15
D 50% to 54% 6.25 12.5
E 45% to 49% (passing grade) 5 10
S (sub-pass) 40% to 44%  2.5 5
Ungraded 39% and below 0 0
GCE a-level Rank Points Calculation

Overview of the GCE A-Level curriculum 

H1, H2 and H3 refer to the depth of the subject taken by the student, with H1 subjects being briefer than H2 and H3 subjects and H3 being a more advanced level of the subject. 

For example, an H2 Chemistry subject would have more topics than H1 Chemistry but their difficulty level of the questions asked would roughly be the same. 

As for H3 Chemistry, the topics learned will not be more than H2 Chemistry since H3 subjects are an extension to H2 subjects. This would mean, learning would be more in-depth and specific when it comes to taking an H3 subject. 

Arts/Science Stream Criteria 

One of the four content-based subjects must be from a contrasting discipline. In other words, you are not allowed to take all Science-based subjects as such; Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. 

H1 

The compulsory subjects that should be taken by all students would be General Paper and Project Work. Students may also offer Knowledge and Inquiry in place of General Paper (GP), or offer Mother Tongue Language and Literature at H2.

Students can be exempted from taking H1 Mother Tongue if they have passed their Higher Mother Tongue in Secondary School, but it still counts as 1 point. However, if the student did not undertake Higher MTL in Secondary school ‘O’ Level, it is compulsory for him/her to complete H1 MTL in JC. 

National Examinations for H1 subjects will be taken at the end of JC2 (second year of JC) with the exception of H1 Mother-Tongue Language and H1 Project Work which will be taken in JC1. 

H2

Taking 4 H2

Students can be offered to take up 4 H2 instead of the standard combination of 3 H2 and 1 H1 at the beginning of their J1. Schools will determine whether a student can be offered to take up 4 H2s, determining factor being the student’s raw cut-off points when they enter the JC. This differs from JC to JC. 

How to calculate your GCE A-level Rank points

Some Junior colleges include the students’ rank points in their results. If your college does not, do not fret, here’s how you can calculate it.

Rank Points for Students take 3H2 Subjects

[(3 H2 Subjects + 1 H1 Subject + 1 H1 GP + 1 H1 PW + 1 H1 MTL) /100] x 90

= [(20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10)/100] x 90

= (100/100) x 90

90 RP

Rank Points for Students take 4H2 SubjectsFor students that are offered 4H2 subjects instead of 3H2 and 1H1? RP is calculated this way: 

Should the scenario arise when a 4H2 student do not have an H1 content-based subject, the student’s weakest H2 subject will then be computed as an H1 content subject. This means the rank points of the H2 subject would be halved (calculated as /10 instead of /20).

3 H2 + weakest 1 H2 calculated as H1 + H1 GP + H1 PW

= (20 + 20 + 20) + (17.5/20 x 10) + 10 + 10 

= 88.75 RP

Looking for more GCE A-Level related resources? Click here for GP Model Essays.

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