DSA 2018 For Secondary Schools Starts On May 7

The Ministry of Education has released details of Direct School Admission, Singapore for 2018.

Students interested in applying for Direct School Admission (DSA) to secondary schools (for admission in 2019) can do so from May 7, 2018. 

Direct School Admission, Singapore, for secondary schools

The DSA-Sec allows students to seek admission to a secondary school on the basis of talents and achievements that may not be demonstrated at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). This includes proficiency in sports and arts, or specific academic strengths such as language, mathematics, or science.

There are 143 secondary schools participating in the 2018 DSA-Sec Exercise.

Here are some key details for the 2018 DSA-Sec Exercise:

• Students are encouraged to refer to this website for DSA-Sec Exercise 
  https://www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/direct-admissions/dsa-sec

The website contains important dates and timelines and also the full list of DSA categories offered and the secondary schools offering them. 

• Students interested in applying for DSA-Sec should also visit the individual schools’ websites for more information on application periods and procedures plus selection criteria, which may differ across schools.
• Do note, students participating in the DSA-Sec Exercise are still required to take the PSLE examination.

They will be informed of the outcome of their DSA application, and if successful, they then need to decide whether to take up the offer before their examination results are released.

• Students who take up a DSA-Sec confirmed offer are guaranteed a place in that secondary school, provided their PSLE results meet the minimum requirement for a course [Express / Normal (Academic) / Normal (Technical)] offered by the school. 

• Do note that, from this year (2018), all secondary schools will have the option to reserve up to 20 % of their O-level places for DSA pupils.

With this increase, students will have more options and opportunities to find a match between their strengths and interests and a secondary school that offers suitable programmes.

• Also, students will no longer be required to take general academic ability tests for their DSA-Sec applications.

Secondary schools will focus on identifying students with specific academic talents, instead of those with general academic abilities.

For students applying to DSA based on specific academic strength, the schools may continue to use a range of assessment tools to assess them for that specific academic subject area.

• In accepting an offer of admission through the DSA exercise, students are expressing a commitment to study in that school to develop their talent in the chosen area.

Students are expected to honour this commitment to their posted DSA school for the full duration of the programme they are admitted to.

Students successfully admitted to a school via the DSA-Sec Exercise will not be able to participate in the Secondary 1 Posting Exercise.

They will also not be allowed to transfer to another school after obtaining their PSLE or GCE O-Level results.

• Since students must commit to their chosen DSA school, they are strongly encouraged to carefully consider and limit their DSA selection to one or two choices, based on their aptitudes and strengths, the school’s academic and non-academic requirements, and the programmes available to develop their talents.

Also READ: Secondary school open house dates 2018

(Source: MOE)