She lands her dream course through the Early Admission Exercise

She failed to qualify for a diploma in architecture (Darch) at Singapore Polytechnic (SP) after her O levels.

So Ms Siti Nurzawanah did an architecture-related course at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) instead. After two years in Higher Nitec, she was still unable to qualify for Darch, but she did not give up.

She took on a job as a technical coordinator for three years at two different architect firms.

Last year, Ms Siti, 22, tried again for Darch and finally got in with the help of the Early Admission Exercise (EAE).

She told The New Paper: "An advantage of EAE is that as a working adult, it allowed me to reserve a place in SP and gave me time to make decisions on whether I should resign from my job. It allowed me to make decisions without jeopardising my current life."

EAE is an aptitude-based admission exercise that allows students to apply for admission to polytechnics or ITEs prior to receiving their results. Apart from academic achievements, it also recognises an applicant's talent and skill.

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This year, graduating N- and O-level students can apply for early admission to ITE Nitec and Higher Nitec courses respectively, from May 27 to June 3.

For polytechnic courses, final-year ITE students can apply from June 11 to 17, while graduating O-level students can apply from June 25 to July 1.

Working adults can also apply to polytechnics via the EAE from June 8 to July 5.

In light of Covid-19, the selection process will take place virtually, with the exception of ITE's Nitec in nursing, Higher Nitec in performance production and Nanyang Polytechnic's oral health therapy.

Ms Denise Leong, registrar, Nanyang Polytechnic, told TNP that due to the nature of the oral health therapy diploma, the final manual dexterity test, which assesses an applicant's digital dexterity, precision and speed, among other skills, will be conducted on campus.