NS-liable persons will be granted deferment for Polytechnic Diploma courses if they are able to commence the course before 19 years of age (for Secondary 4 students) or 20 years of age (for Secondary 5 students), as at 1st January of the course commencement year.
NS-liable persons who graduated with Nitec / Higher Nitec qualification from ITE Colleges will be granted deferment for Polytechnic Diploma studies if they are able to commence the course before 21 years of age as at 1st January of the course commencement year. Applications for deferment from ITE graduates who are above 21 years of age as at 1st January of their course commencement year will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
NS-liable persons who are returning from overseas and wish to pursue Polytechnic Diploma studies must seek prior approval from CMPB before applying for their intended course of study. Persons who are deemed to have already attained a first education bar qualification (defined as GCE 'A' Levels, Polytechnic Diploma or equivalent qualifications), be it locally or overseas, will not be granted deferment to pursue another first education bar qualification or another qualification below first education bar.
NS-liable persons must obtain approval from CMPB if they intend to:
- Change the course of study
- Change the institution / school
Part-Time Students
Ensure that you have approval from relevant authority to attend part-time/evenings-only courses if you are serving National Service.
Disruption from full-time National Service for full-time studies
Disruption from full-time NS affects both the operational readiness of the unit and the individual. For this reason, disruption is a concession that can only be considered on the basis of equity to allow those from the same school cohort but enlisted in the later intake, to proceed for further studies at the same time as those enlisted in the earlier intake.
In general, NSFs from the same polytechnic diploma cohort are enlisted in either the Jun quarterly intake (earlier intake) or Sep quarterly intake (later intake). The scheduling of the NS enlistment intakes and MINDEF's disruption policy take into account the fact that most Polytechnic students graduate in Apr, and will ORD in the 2nd half of the calendar year.
For example, a Polytechnic graduate who enlisted in the earlier intake in Jun 12 will ORD in time to commence university at NUS, NTU or SMU in Aug 14. Another Polytechnic graduate who enlisted in the later intake in Sep 12 will be eligible for disruption from NS so that he may commence studies at NUS, NTU or SMU in Aug 14, at the same time as his peer who was enlisted earlier in Jun 12. The minority of students who graduate from polytechnic after Apr (e.g. due to repeat of modules, or due to the structure of their academic term), and who are enlisted after the Sep quarterly intake, will not be granted disruption from NS to commence university at NUS, NTU or SMU together with their peers who enlisted earlier, but can continue with their degree studies at these institutions after their ORD.
You may visit the NS Portal (www.ns.sg) for more information on disruption from full-time NS for full-time studies.