CCAs and Singapore University Applications: 2026 Evidence Guide
CCAs and Singapore University Applications: 2026 Evidence Guide
Study guide//Updated 12 Oct 2026
Reviewed by
Marcus Pang·Managing Director (Maths)
How NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, SIT and SUSS currently use activities, achievements and other non-academic evidence, without inventing a universal CCA ranking.
Q: Which CCA carries the most weight in a Singapore university application? A: The universities do not publish one cross-university ranking of CCAs, leadership titles or activity types. They ask for different evidence and assess it with academic results, programme prerequisites and, where applicable, interviews, tests or portfolios. Use the current form for the university, qualification and programme instead of following a generic CCA hierarchy.
Last reviewed: 19 July 2026. The official pages below can change by intake and programme. The 2026 application periods mentioned on some university pages have closed, so this guide focuses on evidence requirements rather than reusing an expired deadline.
What the six universities currently publish
University
Current public position on activities and achievements
NUS
NUS says its holistic assessment subsumes the Aptitude-Based Admission process of earlier years. Every applicant lists up to four achievements, co-curricular activities or non-academic activities and answers mandatory short-response questions. Each college, faculty or school can consider different factors. Shortlisted applicants may be asked for more information, a test or an interview.
NTU
NTU retains a named Aptitude-Based Admissions section. It considers passions, interests and strengths, subject to a minimum level of academic competence. Its general ABA page asks for achievement details, short answers of no more than 200 words each and one or two online appraisals. Programme instructions can differ: LKCMedicine’s application page lists a 500-word achievements essay, while its FAQ lists 200 words for that essay; both distinguish it from the personal statement. Confirm the current programme and application-form instructions before relying on either limit. Shortlisted candidates may be interviewed and asked to verify supporting documents.
SMU
SMU says it looks beyond grades for qualities such as aptitude, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and communication. Its examples include leadership in co-curricular activities, impactful service, relevant awards and relevant work or internships. Applicants must follow the page for their qualification, and only shortlisted applicants proceed to the applicable interview or test.
SUTD describes a comprehensive review of academics, qualities and traits, and portfolios that can include CCAs, accomplishments, leadership, recommendations and personal-insight responses. Its application guide asks for relevant experiences from the previous four years and supporting documents. A selected candidate may have an interview conversation.
SIT
SIT publishes five holistic areas: academic proficiency, passion, work experience, personality traits and interests. Applicants share their passion and aptitude in a personal statement and list relevant work, awards, memberships and qualifications. All shortlisted applicants receive an assessment, whose format varies by programme.
SUSS
SUSS publishes ranked programme choices and a possible multi-stage selection for shortlisted full-time applicants. Its current guide does not publish a hierarchy assigning fixed value to particular school CCAs or leadership titles. Follow the programme and application instructions issued for the intake.
This table does not make the six processes interchangeable. NTU's general ABA page gives a 200-word short-answer limit and one-to-two-appraisal rule. Check your qualification and programme instructions, including the separate LKCMedicine essay requirement. These are not universal requirements across NTU programmes or other universities. Compare the LKCMedicine application page and Admissions FAQ.
What is not established by the official sources
The reviewed university pages do not publish:
a rule that two or three CCAs are ideal;
a requirement to hold a CCA for two years;
a five-tier ranking of leadership positions;
a rule that a president or captain is always valued above another contribution;
a table ranking debate, sports, uniformed groups, service or technical clubs by faculty;
a claim that a CCA is merely a tiebreaker between applicants with the same grades;
a fixed grade shortfall that activities can or cannot overcome; or
a promise that any activity, title, award or portfolio will secure admission.
The old version of this guide presented all of these as admissions facts. They have been removed.
Academic requirements still apply
Non-academic evidence does not erase published entry requirements.
NUS tells applicants to meet programme prerequisites and says its assessment considers academic merit as well as interests, prior preparation and aptitude. NTU says ABA remains subject to a minimum level of academic competence and that grades in relevant subjects can indicate aptitude. The other universities publish their own qualification and programme requirements.
Before working on an activity description:
use the admissions page for the qualification being presented;
check the programme prerequisites;
check whether a portfolio, test, interview or additional document is required;
use the current intake's application form; and
do not treat an indicative grade profile as a guaranteed cut-off or offer.
Relevance is university-specific
NUS explicitly says that each college, faculty or school considers different factors. NTU's published examples include significant achievements relevant to the programme, a relevant portfolio, community service, leadership, entrepreneurship, arts, culture, sports, and relevant work or internships. SUTD, SIT and SMU likewise describe more than one kind of evidence.
This supports a bounded principle: explain why an experience is relevant when the form asks for that explanation. It does not support a universal claim that:
healthcare volunteering is the strongest signal for Medicine;
debate is the single strongest signal for Law;
robotics is more valuable than writing for every Engineering or Computing applicant;
entrepreneurship is the best activity for Business; or
sports, uniformed groups, class committees or peer tutoring are generally overrated.
Programme-specific selection teams can ask for different evidence. Check the current programme page instead of inferring a faculty ranking from the name of a CCA.
Build an evidence inventory before writing
Start from facts that can be checked. For each activity, project, role, award, job or service commitment, record:
Field
Question to answer
Name and organisation
What was the activity, and who ran it?
Dates
When did it start and end?
Role
What was the formal role, if any?
Own contribution
What did the applicant personally do?
Team contribution
What was done by other people?
Evidence
Is there a record, certificate, letter, link, file or supervisor who can verify it?
Result
What changed or was produced?
Relevance
Why is it useful evidence for this particular form or programme?
Do not invent numbers to make a result look concrete. If an outcome was qualitative, describe it accurately. If a metric belongs to the whole team, do not imply that one applicant produced it alone.
Leadership titles need context
A title does not reveal the size of a group, selection method, responsibility, time commitment or result. The former guide ranked president, vice-president, secretary, committee member and general member into fixed admissions tiers. No reviewed university source publishes that hierarchy.
A more accurate record contains:
the exact title used by the organisation;
the dates held;
the scope of responsibility;
one or two actions the applicant personally took;
a supported result or learning point; and
the evidence available if verification is requested.
An applicant without a formal title should not invent one. A supported contribution can still be described without calling it leadership.
There is no official ideal number of CCAs
The six reviewed pages do not prescribe a minimum or ideal number of activities. More entries are not automatically stronger, and a smaller list is not automatically better.
Choose commitments based on genuine interest, time, health, school rules and the opportunity to contribute. Do not join or abandon an activity solely because a generic guide assigns it an admissions weight. Academic work, sleep, care responsibilities, employment and other constraints also matter.
When the application opens, select the evidence that best answers its actual questions. NUS currently limits the activity or achievement list to four. That is an application-field limit, not advice to participate in exactly four activities.
Writing about an activity
Follow the current prompt and limit. A neutral drafting structure is:
Context: name the activity and dates.
Contribution: state the applicant's own action.
Evidence: give a supported result or explain what was learned.
Relevance: connect it to the question or programme only where the connection is genuine.
For example:
From [month and year] to [month and year], I worked on [activity]. My responsibility was [specific responsibility]. I personally [specific action]. The supported result was [accurate result], and I learned [bounded reflection]. This is relevant to [prompt or programme] because [brief connection].
This is an editorial writing aid, not a university-prescribed formula. Delete any bracket that cannot be filled truthfully.
The previous page contained a 197-word business example with invented club membership, vendors, revenue, donation, supplier failure and programme features. It was not a real applicant record or evidence of current university requirements and has been removed.
Appraisals, referees and supporting documents
Requirements differ:
NTU's general ABA page asks for at least one and no more than two online appraisals. Check the instructions for your qualification and programme.
SUTD permits up to two referees and says they should know the applicant academically or professionally for at least half a year recently. Its guide asks applicants to obtain consent before listing them.
NUS can ask a shortlisted applicant for additional information specific to the relevant college, faculty or school.
SIT can require a programme-specific portfolio, essay, written test or technical test.
Other requirements must be taken from the current form for the qualification and programme.
Keep supporting records, but do not upload extra material unless the application permits it. A school activity record is not proof that every university automatically receives the same transcript or uses it in the same way.
Interview preparation
An activity record can help an applicant answer questions, but an invitation controls the actual format. Prepare by:
rereading every submitted claim;
separating personal work from team work;
bringing only documents requested in the invitation;
checking dates, titles and results for accuracy;
preparing to explain a difficulty or change without embellishment; and
following programme-specific test or portfolio instructions.
Do not assume that every course interviews applicants. NUS lists particular interview or test programmes and can also contact shortlisted applicants through holistic assessment. SMU, SIT, SUTD and SUSS publish their own shortlisting rules, while NTU says ABA candidates may be interviewed.
Application checklist
I am using the correct university, qualification, programme and intake page.
I meet the published prerequisites or have accurately identified what remains outstanding.
Every activity, date, role and result is accurate.
My personal contribution is separate from the team's work.
I can support factual claims if verification is requested.
I followed the actual word or character limit.
I did not reuse NTU's ABA rules as universal requirements.
I did not copy a generic faculty ranking or leadership tier into my application.
I kept a copy of the submitted form and supporting records.
Which CCA is best for Medicine, Law, Engineering or Business?
The reviewed university pages do not publish one activity ranking by faculty. Use the programme's current requirements and explain supported relevance rather than following a generic list.
Do I need a president or captain title?
No reviewed university source makes such a title a universal requirement. Describe the actual responsibility and contribution accurately.
Is one activity better than five?
There is no published cross-university ideal count. Application fields can have limits, such as NUS's current maximum of four listed activities or achievements, but that is not a participation prescription.
Can CCAs compensate for grades below a programme's requirements?
Do not assume so. Academic and programme requirements remain part of assessment. NTU explicitly retains a minimum academic-competence boundary for ABA, and NUS requires programme prerequisites.
Do NUS and NTU both use 200-word activity responses?
No. The 200-word rule cited here comes from NTU's general ABA page, and programme instructions can differ. LKCMedicine’s application page lists 500 words for its achievements essay, but its FAQ lists 200. Confirm the current programme and application-form instructions. NUS publishes its own mandatory short responses and application materials.
Will every university interview me about my activities?
No. Interviews and tests depend on the university, programme and shortlisting outcome. Follow the invitation and current programme page.
Last reviewed: 19 July 2026. Recheck every university's current application guide before submitting because fields, limits and selection processes can change.
