09 April 2016

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has enhanced its discretionary admission scheme. Under this scheme, students who do not meet the cut-off score for entry to a particular course or faculty may be considered on non-academic attributes such as participation in Co-Curricular Activities, leadership roles, entrepreneurial skills, or sporting talent.

Last year, NUS interviewed over a thousand students seeking entry via discretionary admission and approved 670 of them. This constitutes around 10 percent of the total cohort intake.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has formally announced its support of discretionary admission schemes, which all Singapore public universities have. The MOE has said that there is scope to place a greater emphasis on holistic selection practices for admissions.

NUS vice-provost for undergraduate education Bernard Tan stressed, however, that applicants considered through the discretionary process still need good grades. He said: “We have to be sure that they will be able to take the rigours of a degree programme. So, generally, they are only short of a few points.”

Professor Tan also said that admitting as much as 10 per cent of the places through the scheme has helped the university inject more diversity into its student body.

NUS also offers scholarships to those who excel in sports and the arts. These cover tuition fees and living expenses, as well as co-fund short enrichment programmes.