How to guide your child to secure a polytechnic spot before the O levels

19 May 2024

The early admissions exercise (EAE) is an aptitude-based admissions exercise that allows students to apply for and receive conditional admission offers to polytechnics before receiving their final grades. According to the Ministry of Education, applications and admissions via the polytechnic EAE have remained relatively consistent over the past three years. The EAE is open to graduating O-Level students, final-year Nitec and Higher Nitec students from ITE. Polytechnics have the flexibility to select and admit students based on their aptitude and interest. The EAE is a holistic assessment of what an applicant has done so far. This means students should go the extra mile and find opportunities and activities related to their field to be considered favourably, says Ms Jeanne Liew, Principal and CEO of RP. She added that the EAE route is suitable for students who know their interests or what they want to pursue as their career. NP’s deputy principal, Ms Looi Mei Fong, advises students to approach both write-ups as if they were pitches. Mr Sng Choon Leng, director of academic affairs at TP, says interviewers are keen to find out about applicants’ interest in a course and how they had pursued this passion. Parents play an important role in helping their children discover and nurture their aptitudes and passions, says Mr Wee Hau Yap, acting director at the department of academic services at SP. He encourages parents to familiarise themselves with the EAE process, eligibility criteria and available courses to better advise their child. Mr Russell Chan, Principal and CEO of NYP, says parents should ask if their child prefers applied learning or theoretical learning, which is the key difference between a polytechnic and junior college education.

[The Straits Times]