Parliamentary Question

Past Years' Data of O-Level Private Candidates

9 January 2023

NAME AND CONSTITUENCY OF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, West Coast GRC

QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Education what is the number and profile according to age and gender of those who took the GCE O level examinations, including the subject breakdown, as private candidates annually for the 2012-2022 examination periods, respectively.

RESPONSE

1. The number of private candidates who have registered for the GCE O-Level examination have declined over the past decade, from about 8,000 private candidates in 2012 to about 3,000 in the past three years.

2. Majority (75-80%) were 20 years old or below and about 15% were between 21 and 30 years old. 60% of the candidates were female. 

3. Most of the private candidates sat for O-Level English and Mathematics.