Retake O-levels or go ITE?

[darkerthanblack0]

Haha, the classic question for people who failed their O's.

Well...let's begin the story. I only passed two subjects (English and Mother Tongue) and I can only go to ITE. I applied for JPAE 2016 and ITE offered me my first choice (Higher Nitec in Hospitality Operations). I wanted to choose Higher Nitec in Early Childhood Eduction, but it requires you to pass 3 subjects, and I was unlucky enough to score D7 on my two other subjects (one bloody grade difference) so there goes my dream. I was pretty cool with it though, I didn't mind going to H.O as I have quite a bit of interest in the service industry as well. But when I imagine my future there's always kids running around and the words "kindergarten" floating in my mind (hint hint).

So I was all mentally prepared for ITE, and at the CNY eve dinner yesterday, my relatives dropped a bomb on me. Kaboom. Said that ITE was a waste of time, no future, blah blah... Then told me to retake my O-levels. Literally everybody at the table (excluding my little cousin and grandma) were pressuring me to retake O-levels. To be fair, I think it's a practical route, but it doesn't mean that going to ITE certainly means that I'm doomed.

I initially chose not to retake my O's because I feel that I'm just staying at the same point where everybody I know has already gone somewhere. Poly, JC, ITE, whatever, at least they are going somewhere. I am not confident that I will be motivated to study and end up wasting another year if I do badly again. And the only reason I'm hesitating now and considering this is because I really want to get into the Early Childhood Education route (if I could take that course in ITE I wouldn't be hesitating and would never look back). I checked the individual polytechnic websites and found that it's not quite possible to get into ECE with my Hospitality Operations certificate. But, I could get into IT or business courses if I do really well enough in ITE (if my GPA is 3.0 or 3.5 and above). My relatives told me that I can't survive in hotel industry. They say the work is demanding and there are long working hours for very little pay.

However, there's another problem. It is required for you to pass 5 subjects to be eligible for most courses in poly, and if I were to retake my O's, I am only going to sit for Maths and Combined Humanities. So even if I pass them I will only still pass 4 subjects. You might be wondering why I don't want to retake other subjects. Well, the only other subjects left are Combined Science and Art. It's totally impossible for me to do Science. I don't know anything about the stuff taught in Sec 3 and Sec 4 because I had given up. I had thought my Art would save me but then I got a D7. Every art student I know in school had spent a LOT of effort for Art and it's the same for me, and everyone ended up getting a few grades below their expected one. Not like their expectations is unrealistic. Even the really talented students got B4 and below. My art teachers were furious because it was ridiculous, obviously. They said that this "misfortune" applied to the rest of the art students in Singapore and not only our school. (So it's not that my school standard is lousy or whatever) It appears that this year's benchmark has really increased exaggeratedly. Whatever it is, I am never going to take Art again. It's really a waste of time and effort.

So here are my questions:
- Can I sit for a subject that has never been offered and taught in my secondary school before as a private candidate? (e.g. Literature) <- provided that I study on my own
- Retake O's or go ITE?
- Is the route for ITE Hospitality Operations really risky? What if I end up wasting two years of my life because I am not successful in my DAE application?

I have a lot of other questions but these are the important ones I need to have answered for now. Thanks in advance.

 

[takaman]

I think ITE would be a better route for you.Or why not try the private diploma route?It is slightly more expensive but well worth it as it is a more faster pathway to degree.I feel you should not retake "O" levels as it is a waste of time and you may not be guaranteed to do well.And early childhood education Cut off point is quite low. TP is 13,NP is 14.You probably have better chances if you applied for DPA in 2015 as you already know what course you are interested in.Anyways, All the best and good luck!

 

[Food_Lover]

Higher Nitec.
ITE is certainly not the end but provides alot of learning opportunities.

Be it retake O Level or enrol into Higher Nitec, you have only yourself to feel motiviated. Fret not, your Lecturers and Class Advisor in ITE will definitely helping you out if you bother to put in effort.

Moreover, ITE is pretty much easy to secure scholarship and awards which is pretty good for your Portfolio. (Good as in your Job Interview/Polytechnic's admission interview as well)

I'm an ITE alumni. I was once a delinquent and mix with the bad accompany in the past. Initially, i gave up hope on myself and future. My Year 1's result was once GPA2.61. After getting motiviated and mix with the good accompany, i scored GPA4 for both Year 2's semester.

ITE is definitely not the end.


I wish you all the best and good luck.

 

[IAmZTX]

Your current issue is situational. When you spent 2 years in ITE, you need to factor out that if you manage to get into local polytechnic from ITE. You could be 2 years older than your peers. Yes, people say age does not matter. But think about it, you lose 2 years of salary. I'm not saying ITE is not good, it just that time factor appeals me.

How about you?

On a side note: If you are planning to get into Government Job, they will assess your o level grades. I think its better to build that fundamentals and score well. It really matters!

 

[Pineapple.wong]

Haha, the classic question for people who failed their O's.

Well...let's begin the story. I only passed two subjects (English and Mother Tongue) and I can only go to ITE. I applied for JPAE 2016 and ITE offered me my first choice (Higher Nitec in Hospitality Operations). I wanted to choose Higher Nitec in Early Childhood Eduction, but it requires you to pass 3 subjects, and I was unlucky enough to score D7 on my two other subjects (one bloody grade difference) so there goes my dream. I was pretty cool with it though, I didn't mind going to H.O as I have quite a bit of interest in the service industry as well. But when I imagine my future there's always kids running around and the words "kindergarten" floating in my mind (hint hint).

So I was all mentally prepared for ITE, and at the CNY eve dinner yesterday, my relatives dropped a bomb on me. Kaboom. Said that ITE was a waste of time, no future, blah blah... Then told me to retake my O-levels. Literally everybody at the table (excluding my little cousin and grandma) were pressuring me to retake O-levels. To be fair, I think it's a practical route, but it doesn't mean that going to ITE certainly means that I'm doomed.

I initially chose not to retake my O's because I feel that I'm just staying at the same point where everybody I know has already gone somewhere. Poly, JC, ITE, whatever, at least they are going somewhere. I am not confident that I will be motivated to study and end up wasting another year if I do badly again. And the only reason I'm hesitating now and considering this is because I really want to get into the Early Childhood Education route (if I could take that course in ITE I wouldn't be hesitating and would never look back). I checked the individual polytechnic websites and found that it's not quite possible to get into ECE with my Hospitality Operations certificate. But, I could get into IT or business courses if I do really well enough in ITE (if my GPA is 3.0 or 3.5 and above). My relatives told me that I can't survive in hotel industry. They say the work is demanding and there are long working hours for very little pay.

However, there's another problem. It is required for you to pass 5 subjects to be eligible for most courses in poly, and if I were to retake my O's, I am only going to sit for Maths and Combined Humanities. So even if I pass them I will only still pass 4 subjects. You might be wondering why I don't want to retake other subjects. Well, the only other subjects left are Combined Science and Art. It's totally impossible for me to do Science. I don't know anything about the stuff taught in Sec 3 and Sec 4 because I had given up. I had thought my Art would save me but then I got a D7. Every art student I know in school had spent a LOT of effort for Art and it's the same for me, and everyone ended up getting a few grades below their expected one. Not like their expectations is unrealistic. Even the really talented students got B4 and below. My art teachers were furious because it was ridiculous, obviously. They said that this "misfortune" applied to the rest of the art students in Singapore and not only our school. (So it's not that my school standard is lousy or whatever) It appears that this year's benchmark has really increased exaggeratedly. Whatever it is, I am never going to take Art again. It's really a waste of time and effort.

So here are my questions:
- Can I sit for a subject that has never been offered and taught in my secondary school before as a private candidate? (e.g. Literature) <- provided that I study on my own
- Retake O's or go ITE?
- Is the route for ITE Hospitality Operations really risky? What if I end up wasting two years of my life because I am not successful in my DAE application?

I have a lot of other questions but these are the important ones I need to have answered for now. Thanks in advance.

As a person who has failed ONLY O-level maths and walked where you are going, I would suggest you not torture yourself with the retaking just to get a spot in the local polys only to release there you will STILL have to do VERY well to have a shot at uni for whatever reason which would be impossible.

I say plan ahead and look at the indicative GPA for entry into the Big 3 and do your research. It will be costly but I suggest you look at some of the private education providers, do their bridging programme and then apply to a CREDIBLE uni if that's what you are aiming for (e.g. Ngee Ann -Adelaide). Forget about all the shiny advertisements that you see. They are shiny for a reason. To hook people like you with not a lot of options to begin with.

 

[Raxxxxxx]

Is it possible for you to accept hospitality in ITE and re-take O level at the same time ? And perhaps switch course afterwards ?

 

[YYS1995]

Just to share, my army friend went ITE > Poly > NS > Working in financial institution @ Raffles Place now... It's definitely not the end... just that you take a longer route. But what's important is you get the in the end.

 

[StephanieDaniella]

O Levels Inquiry - Help!

Hello everyone! I am 19 years old & is currently studying in Singapore. Recently in 2018, I took my 'O' Levels. My ultimate goal was to get into a suitable course in a Polytechnic. However, I failed four out of five subjects & scored 35 points. Instead of proceeding to Higher Nitec, I decided to apply for a private diploma in Kaplan. I have always wanted to pursue Diploma of Information Technology, hence that was the field I applied in Kaplan. However, a part of me is struggling to accept the fact that I could not apply for that course in a Polytechnic, and I was wondering if the Direct Admission Exercise would willingly take in a 35 pointers under the condition of retaking 'O' Levels at the same time. Is that possible?

 

[travi$cott]

OLEVEL SITUATION

Hello there, i completed my O'Levels last year and i got 27points, 25 after deducting the CCA points, I got E8 for Math and POA, C6 for Combined Science, B3 for Food and Nutrition and A2 for English, I am in abit of a pickle right now as I am not Singaporean, so I do not need to enroll into NS.I have many different paths to go, ITE gave me my first choice which is Retail and Online Business (Higher Nitec Course), I can also go back to Malaysia and do a 2-year Business Course in Sunway College to get my diploma and continue in Victoria University to get my degree. However, my parents kind of want me to retake my POA and Math as they said that the E8's would come back to bite me when enrolling in a Uni or finding a job in the future as I plan to learn Business, like marketing etc.

I really need some insight, if i retake my POA and Math, i can do a Foundation in Business which takes 1 year and I can proceed on to do my degree in a good Uni as i have 5 credits, if I do not retake, i'm afraid that the Uni would not accept me due to my O'level result, I'm not considering ITE as it will take my 5 years to get my Diploma.

 

[yusoffb01]

if you want to find a job you might need to give o level cert... if you think you can score better then redo it. only takes 1 year

 

[FinalFrontier]

Hello there, i completed my O'Levels last year and i got 27points, 25 after deducting the CCA points, I got E8 for Math and POA, C6 for Combined Science, B3 for Food and Nutrition and A2 for English, I am in abit of a pickle right now as I am not Singaporean, so I do not need to enroll into NS.I have many different paths to go, ITE gave me my first choice which is Retail and Online Business (Higher Nitec Course), I can also go back to Malaysia and do a 2-year Business Course in Sunway College to get my diploma and continue in Victoria University to get my degree. However, my parents kind of want me to retake my POA and Math as they said that the E8's would come back to bite me when enrolling in a Uni or finding a job in the future as I plan to learn Business, like marketing etc.

I really need some insight, if i retake my POA and Math, i can do a Foundation in Business which takes 1 year and I can proceed on to do my degree in a good Uni as i have 5 credits, if I do not retake, i'm afraid that the Uni would not accept me due to my O'level result, I'm not considering ITE as it will take my 5 years to get my Diploma.

As an employer, I'd look at the following for degree holders -
1) where the degree is from, and whether on campus full degree, on campus accelerated degree, on campus part-time, private school full-time, private school part time
2) whether university foundation program, A level, poly or 1-year diploma
3) whether O level, N level
In all the above, the preference is from the front to the back, though it does depend on which university and scores.
For degree holders, the English and Maths O level scores are important, if there is no English and Maths taken at A level or higher.
If you found Maths difficult in school, suggest a good private tutor and re-take it, just to have a decent Maths score for the rest of your career and also learn the mathematical logic and reasoning which is important for most careers.
Then finish your studies in KL/Malaysia, then do an exchange to the US/NZ, the tried and tested Malaysian way. Better, faster, and much cheaper.

 

[FinalFrontier]

Hello everyone! I am 19 years old & is currently studying in Singapore. Recently in 2018, I took my 'O' Levels. My ultimate goal was to get into a suitable course in a Polytechnic. However, I failed four out of five subjects & scored 35 points. Instead of proceeding to Higher Nitec, I decided to apply for a private diploma in Kaplan. I have always wanted to pursue Diploma of Information Technology, hence that was the field I applied in Kaplan. However, a part of me is struggling to accept the fact that I could not apply for that course in a Polytechnic, and I was wondering if the Direct Admission Exercise would willingly take in a 35 pointers under the condition of retaking 'O' Levels at the same time. Is that possible?

For the last question - highly unlikely. If IT is your chosen career, then it doesn't matter where you learn your skills. It's the skills that matter.
If you really would like to go to a polytechnic, if you have good NA, you can try the poly foundation (ask at each polytechnic). If not, then apply again after re-taking Os. The O level certificate is important in Singapore as it's the lowest standardised test. The O level results follow you for most of your career.

 

[FinalFrontier]

Haha, the classic question for people who failed their O's.

Well...let's begin the story. I only passed two subjects (English and Mother Tongue) and I can only go to ITE. I applied for JPAE 2016 and ITE offered me my first choice (Higher Nitec in Hospitality Operations). I wanted to choose Higher Nitec in Early Childhood Eduction, but it requires you to pass 3 subjects, and I was unlucky enough to score D7 on my two other subjects (one bloody grade difference) so there goes my dream. I was pretty cool with it though, I didn't mind going to H.O as I have quite a bit of interest in the service industry as well. But when I imagine my future there's always kids running around and the words "kindergarten" floating in my mind (hint hint).

So I was all mentally prepared for ITE, and at the CNY eve dinner yesterday, my relatives dropped a bomb on me. Kaboom. Said that ITE was a waste of time, no future, blah blah... Then told me to retake my O-levels. Literally everybody at the table (excluding my little cousin and grandma) were pressuring me to retake O-levels. To be fair, I think it's a practical route, but it doesn't mean that going to ITE certainly means that I'm doomed.

I initially chose not to retake my O's because I feel that I'm just staying at the same point where everybody I know has already gone somewhere. Poly, JC, ITE, whatever, at least they are going somewhere. I am not confident that I will be motivated to study and end up wasting another year if I do badly again. And the only reason I'm hesitating now and considering this is because I really want to get into the Early Childhood Education route (if I could take that course in ITE I wouldn't be hesitating and would never look back). I checked the individual polytechnic websites and found that it's not quite possible to get into ECE with my Hospitality Operations certificate. But, I could get into IT or business courses if I do really well enough in ITE (if my GPA is 3.0 or 3.5 and above). My relatives told me that I can't survive in hotel industry. They say the work is demanding and there are long working hours for very little pay.

However, there's another problem. It is required for you to pass 5 subjects to be eligible for most courses in poly, and if I were to retake my O's, I am only going to sit for Maths and Combined Humanities. So even if I pass them I will only still pass 4 subjects. You might be wondering why I don't want to retake other subjects. Well, the only other subjects left are Combined Science and Art. It's totally impossible for me to do Science. I don't know anything about the stuff taught in Sec 3 and Sec 4 because I had given up. I had thought my Art would save me but then I got a D7. Every art student I know in school had spent a LOT of effort for Art and it's the same for me, and everyone ended up getting a few grades below their expected one. Not like their expectations is unrealistic. Even the really talented students got B4 and below. My art teachers were furious because it was ridiculous, obviously. They said that this "misfortune" applied to the rest of the art students in Singapore and not only our school. (So it's not that my school standard is lousy or whatever) It appears that this year's benchmark has really increased exaggeratedly. Whatever it is, I am never going to take Art again. It's really a waste of time and effort.

So here are my questions:
- Can I sit for a subject that has never been offered and taught in my secondary school before as a private candidate? (e.g. Literature) <- provided that I study on my own
- Retake O's or go ITE?
- Is the route for ITE Hospitality Operations really risky? What if I end up wasting two years of my life because I am not successful in my DAE application?

I have a lot of other questions but these are the important ones I need to have answered for now. Thanks in advance.

IF your future has kindergarten and education in it, then ITE hospitality is not a good fit. You'll still need to work very hard and be self motivated to do well to get a high GPA score, to go to poly just to do something you're not interested in. That doesn't seem logical for you? Unless you want to go as far as possible before you go private.

The other consideration is not having an O level cert. It is something that government employers look at. If you're considering the ITE path rather than a private school now, then try and get your O level Maths done
If you're considering the full O level retake, then my advice is to avoid Arts subjects - they are much harder to score than Science. The teachers are important in science subjects. If you are looking around the very established private schools (I'm not referring to Kaplan or MDIS) speak to their science teachers to see if you can understand them.

If you really don't have the motivation to do O levels privately, then ITE may be your only (inexpensive) option. But do try and re-do Maths O levels at the same time. After all, you'll already be in ITE. Once you've finished your ITE, you can try for poly and if you can't get in, there's always the private ECE courses.

Hope this helps. ITE is not the end for a few who do well. For the rest, it is really up to the employers. Good luck.

 

[travi$cott]

As an employer, I'd look at the following for degree holders -
1) where the degree is from, and whether on campus full degree, on campus accelerated degree, on campus part-time, private school full-time, private school part time
2) whether university foundation program, A level, poly or 1-year diploma
3) whether O level, N level
In all the above, the preference is from the front to the back, though it does depend on which university and scores.
For degree holders, the English and Maths O level scores are important, if there is no English and Maths taken at A level or higher.
If you found Maths difficult in school, suggest a good private tutor and re-take it, just to have a decent Maths score for the rest of your career and also learn the mathematical logic and reasoning which is important for most careers.
Then finish your studies in KL/Malaysia, then do an exchange to the US/NZ, the tried and tested Malaysian way. Better, faster, and much cheaper.

i think thats what im going to do, retake math and poa then go for my degree

 

[Idme231]

Lets be fair , if what your relative said its true, then why do ite students going to diploma of their choice still will be on the news being stated their recognisions of their skills? Why will a university graduate thinking about switching career still go to ITE to pick up a skill?

I have Studied Nitec, Higher Nitec and right now Technical Diploma. It's has been my 4th year in ITE and will be my fifth one later on. My experience? It was great, i can change my industry of choice after each level, allowing me to have a different exposure. Work hard and have fun while learning because everyone is still learning. People who stand up to their failures are the one who are strongest.

 

[Idme231]

Is it possible for you to accept hospitality in ITE and re-take O level at the same time ? And perhaps switch course afterwards ?

ITE = O Level but still have skills than O levels.
So No.