“New changes include a single sitting for the Mother Tongue Language exam and a unified exam period for all secondary students.”

In a major shift in Singapore’s education system, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing announced on March 1 that starting in 2027, all secondary students will sit for their national exams at the same time. One of the most significant changes will be the consolidation of the Mother Tongue Language (MTL) exam into a single sitting, with no option for retakes.

The new system will affect the cohort of Secondary 1 students in 2027, who will be the first to take the revamped Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examinations. This change follows the recent elimination of streaming into Normal and Express courses in secondary schools, which aims to create a more inclusive and flexible learning environment.

As part of these reforms, the government is also introducing full subject-based banding, allowing students to select subjects based on their individual strengths and interests, rather than being bound by their academic track.

Mr. Chan explained that the MTL exam will now be held in a single sitting, which removes the possibility of retakes. While this has raised concerns for some students who might have relied on a second chance to improve their MTL grades, the minister emphasized the importance of striking a balance between academic excellence and a more sustainable learning pace. He noted that most students already meet the language proficiency requirement with their first attempt, making the second sitting redundant for the majority.

The restructuring aims to give both students and teachers more time to focus on the curriculum, with an additional four months of learning before the exam. English and MTL written exams will be held in the second week of September, ahead of other subjects, to reduce the overall exam burden. The remaining subjects will follow in a common exam period in October.