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).[1]
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 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 1988, when they were replaced by the GCSE examinations. Whether or not the GCSE is an improvement over its predecessor is a topic of debate.[2]