HCI IP Students: Subject Choices and University Planning Guide

HCI publishes a current subjects document and a proposed combination document for each JC1 cohort. These school documents, together with the receiving university's own prerequisite page, are the right basis for subject planning.

Q: How should an HCI IP student choose Year 5 subjects?
A: Start with exact university prerequisites, then check the HCI document for your entry year, its subject criteria, and its actual combinations. A listed subject or proposed combination is not a promise that every option will run.

Last reviewed: 18 July 2026 against HCI's 2026 JC1 subject information and proposed combination documents. HCI states that the combination list can change and is not itself proof of what will be offered.

What the 2026 HCI documents establish

HCI's academic page says JC1 students indicate a choice from the standard list. It also says a student may replace a subject in a listed combination with H2 Art or H2 Foreign Language only when the contrasting-subject requirement and the relevant prerequisites remain satisfied.

For 2026 JC1, HCI's subject information states that:

• H2 Mathematics is compulsory for its Science combinations.
• H2 Further Mathematics must be offered with H2 Mathematics and has a selection test.
• H2 Computing must be offered with H2 Mathematics and has a selection test.
• students are advised not to take more than one subject with an independent-study or coursework component in JC2.
• a subject may run only if there is sufficient demand and resources.

These are 2026 cohort facts. Future students should open the replacement document for their own entry year.

Plan from requirements, not labels

1. Write down several degree options.
2. Open the programme page for Singapore-Cambridge A-Level applicants.
3. Record required subjects and grades exactly.
4. Keep recommended background separate from formal eligibility.
5. Match the result against HCI's current subject and combination documents.
6. Check HCI's assumed knowledge and any selection exercise.
7. Confirm any non-standard combination with the school.
8. Recheck university requirements in the application year.

Do not use a broad rule such as "Biology is required for medicine" or "Further Mathematics is required for computing." Current local medicine requirements illustrate why precision matters: NUS and NTU both publish Chemistry plus Biology or Physics for the Singapore-Cambridge A-Level route, together with other admissions requirements.

Four H2 subjects and the revised UAS

Under the revised 70-point University Admission Score used from the 2026 admissions exercise, the base score uses three H2 content subjects and General Paper. A fourth H1 or H2 content subject may be included only if it improves the score.