Ultimate Guide To JC (Choosing Subject Combinations)

After O Level, most secondary school students will either choose to enter a polytechnic or a junior college (JC). This article will discuss the subjects students will have to take in JC and how to choose the most suitable subject combination for yourself.

Ultimate Guide To JC Choosing Subject Combinations

It is crucial that you choose the right subject combination, as it will not only affect your academic journey in JC, but also limits your university course choices, which will eventually determine your career choice. Remember that your career is the job you will be doing for your whole life, so it is important to take some time to think about what you want to do in the future, and JC is a great time to start exploring your interests.

There are a few things to take note of when choosing your JC subject combination. Firstly, you should consider your interests and strengths. What are the subjects that you are good at or enjoy? JC is already quite challenging academically, so it is important to pick subjects that you are confident in and will not add unnecessary stress to your life. Secondly, you should also consider your university course choices.

Which courses do you want to apply for in university? Each JC offers different subject combinations, and some combinations may be more suitable for certain courses. For example, if you wish to study medicine in university, it is advisable to take H2 Biology/Physics and H2 Chemistry in JC. Thirdly, you should also consult your parents, teachers or friends for advice. They may have some helpful insights that you have not considered before.

Next, let’s move on to the compulsory subjects all students have to take in JC. H1 General Paper is compulsory for all students, except for those who plan to take H2 Knowledge and Inquiry. H1 General Paper (GP) is a little similar to English in secondary school, where there are 2 papers – Paper 1 Essay and Paper 2 Comprehension. However, naturally, GP is more demanding in terms of content, where the essay needs to be supported with concrete global and local examples.

H1 Project Work is also compulsory, but the good news is, this subject will be graded and completed in the first year. This subject is the only actual graded group work in A Level. H1 Mother Tongue is also graded and completed in the first year. It is compulsory for all students except those who took Higher Mother Tongue in O Level and scored at least D7 and above. 

For the other 4 subjects that students can choose, they can either be a combination of 4 H2 subjects or 3 H2 + 1 H1 subjects. H1 means Higher 1, H2 means Higher 2. As their names suggest, H2 subject is more demanding than a H1 subject in terms of content and skills alike.

4 H2 subjects VS 3 H2 + 1 H1 subject combination

There is no difference between the two in terms of the total number of rank points allocated. For students who took the 4 H2 subjects combination, the worst H2 subject grade will be downgraded to H1 grading system.

It can be easily seen that the benefit of taking 4 H2 subjects is that it is ‘safer’, where there would not be so great an impact on your marks should you fail to do well in one H2 subject. However, the disadvantage would be a greater academic workload as there will be more content to learn.

Besides H1 and H2 subjects, there are also H3 subjects offered at the second year. However, they are not graded into the rank points. They are additional subjects that are taken on top of their H1 and H2 subjects, and are only offered to students who have done well in their first year. H3 subjects can be useful in applying into competitive university courses or applying for scholarships, some specific university courses also allow you to opt out of a few modules if you have taken a particular H3 subject.

An important factor to consider before taking a H3 subject is passion. Your passion for this subject will be important to help you get through all the extra after-school lessons and the heavier workload.

There are 2 types of stream in JC – Science stream and Arts stream, which will in turn determine your 4 subjects. It is important to know which university courses you are interested in when choosing the subjects to take, as there are many pre-requisites to most university courses. For example, medicine requires a pass in H2 Chemistry and H2 Biology / Physics. Most engineering courses require a pass in H2 Mathematics, H2 Chemistry or H2 Physics. 

For those who are not very sure about which specific university course to enter but want to work in the science field in the future, the two most common subject combinations would be BCME (Biology, Chemistry, Math, Economics) and PCME (Physics, Chemistry, Math, Economics). They are deemed as the safest subject combinations as they allow you to be eligible for most science university courses.

Lastly, let’s take a look at the A Level grading system to know how to calculate your rank points.

Your total rank points will be 90. It is made up of your 3 H2 subjects, 1 H1 subject, H1 General Paper and H1 Project Work. 

For H1 Mother Tongue, it will help to pull up your rank points slightly should you have done well for the subject. The total rank points including this subject will be 100, and is later calculated to out of 90 back. For example, for an original score of 85, if the student scored an A for his H1 Mother Tongue, it would become 95 out of 100, which is then recalculated to become 85.5 out of 90 rank points. As seen, H1 Mother Tongue will only give a slight advantage and not much of an impact.

In conclusion, the JC route is definitely not easy. JC students have to juggle their already heavy academic work with CCA and other enrichment activities. Hard work and resilience is key to JC life. JC students also learn to be independent and manage their own time well.

We hope that with this article, you will have a better understanding of the JC route and know what to expect should you choose to take this path. It is recommended that students research about the different routes after secondary school to see which fits them the best. Students can also seek advice from their teachers or parents to help with their decision making.

JC is not for everyone, and that’s okay! There are many other options after secondary school and each has its own benefits. The most important thing is to do what makes you happy and what you are passionate about. Do not compare yourself to others, and do not let others make decisions for you. JC is only 2 years, but your future is much longer than that. Choose wisely!

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