The SEC Exam Replaces O-Levels from 2027: What Changes and What Stays the Same

From 2027, the GCE O-Level, N(A)-Level and N(T)-Level exams are combined into a single national exam, the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC). Students sit each subject at the level they studied it, G1, G2 or G3, and receive one certificate. SEAB says the standards, the mode of assessment and the format stay the same; what changes is the timetable, the name and how results are reported together.

Why the exam is changing

The SEC follows from Full Subject-Based Banding, which replaced the Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams from the 2024 Secondary 1 cohort. Once students take different subjects at different levels, three separate exams no longer fit. SEAB's SEC page describes the change as combining and renaming the three exams in line with Full SBB. If you want the background on how subject levels work in school, our article on Full Subject-Based Banding and Maths covers it.

Who it affects

The first cohort to sit the SEC is the group who entered Secondary 1 in 2024 under Full SBB. MOE's 2024 Committee of Supply announcements confirm the first SEC exams in 2027, with results in early 2028.

If your child is in Secondary 4 or 5 in 2026, they sit this year's O-Level or N-Level exams as normal, and O-Level students apply through the 2027 Joint Admissions Exercise. If your child's path continues into 2027, for example a Secondary 4 N(A) student going on to Secondary 5, or a private candidate, ask the school or check SEAB's page for how the change applies, rather than assuming.

What stays the same

• Standards. SEAB states there is no change in the overall standard of the exams, and that the qualification continues to be recognised locally and internationally.
• Format. The mode of assessment and format stay as they are for the N(A), N(T) and O-Level exams. A G3 subject is examined the way the O-Level subject is.
• Who sets it. The SEC is still jointly examined and awarded by SEAB, MOE and Cambridge International Education.
• Grades. Each level keeps its familiar grading structure (see below).
• Results in January. Results are released in January of the following year, as O-Level results are now.

What changes

The timetable

According to SEAB, English Language and Mother Tongue written papers will be held in September. The written papers for every other subject run from October to November, much as O-Level papers do now. There will be only one written sitting a year for Mother Tongue, at every level including Higher Mother Tongue; O-Level Mother Tongue currently has two sittings, one at mid-year. Orals, listening comprehension and Science practicals stay before the written papers.

For students, the practical effect is that English and Mother Tongue revision has to peak earlier in the year, while everything else stays roughly where it was. That is worth planning for from Secondary 3, not discovering in Secondary 4.

One results release and one certificate

N-Level results used to come out in December and O-Level results in January. Under the SEC there is one common release in January. Each candidate receives a single certificate that lists every subject and the level it was taken at.

How SEC grades work

Each subject level keeps the grading structure of the exam it replaces:

• G3 (the O-Level standard): A1, A2, B3, B4, C5, C6, D7, E8, 9.
• G2 (the N(A)-Level standard): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
• G1 (the N(T)-Level standard): A, B, C, D, E.

A certificate is awarded for a subject if the student achieves E8 or better at G3, 5 or better at G2, or D or better at G1.

SEAB also publishes a grade mapping, used only when an admission aggregate needs a grade from a more demanding level to count at a less demanding one. For example, a G3 grade of A1 to B3 maps to a G2 grade of 1, and B4 to C6 maps to 2. A child's G3 grade is not converted on their certificate; the mapping is a tool for working out aggregates such as ELR2B2 for polytechnic admission.

What happens after the SEC

The 2027 Joint Admissions Exercise, after the 2026 O-Levels, is the last one in its current form. From 2028, MOE's Post-Secondary Admissions Exercise (PSE) replaces the JAE and several other admissions exercises with one process for junior colleges, Millennia Institute, polytechnics and ITE. MOE expects SEC results in mid-January 2028, a six-day application window from results day, and posting results by early February.

Admission criteria change too. For junior colleges from 2028, MOE has announced an L1R4 aggregate of 16 or better, with all subjects taken at G3, replacing L1R5. For polytechnics from the 2028 intake, one of the two "best other subjects" (the B2 in ELR2B2) can be taken at G2. The details are worth reading in full if your child is in Secondary 3 now.

What parents can do now

• Know your child's subject levels. Under Full SBB, levels can be adjusted at set points. Ask the school when those are, and what evidence they look at.
• Plan for a September peak. Build English and Mother Tongue revision earlier into the Secondary 4 year.
• Look ahead to pathways early. The new JC criteria need G3 subjects throughout, and the polytechnic criteria mostly do. If your child is close to the line in a subject, that is worth a conversation in Secondary 3.
• Use official sources. SEAB's SEC page and MOE's Full SBB guide are updated when details change; forwarded summaries are not.

For G3 Maths, the format and standard stay as they are for the O-Level. Our guide to the key O-Level E-Maths topics is still a good map of what is examined.