Q: What does What is the Integrated Programme (IP)?: Pillar Guide for 2025 & Beyond cover? A: Everything parents and students must know about Singapore's six-year IP: history, selection routes, subject flow, assessment changes.
TL;DR The IP is a six-year Express-stream "fast lane" that skips the O-Levels, stretches students with A-Level or IB Diploma concepts two years early, and rewards depth over drill. Success hinges on self-directed learning habits, early mastery of y=mx+c and F=ma, and targeted support when the workload spikes in Sec 3.
1 Origins & Big-Picture Goals
1.1 Why MOE Launched IP in 2004
Broaden talent pipelines beyond the narrow O-Level sorting hat.
Carve out time for research, overseas immersion and CCAs by removing the Sec 4 exam crunch.
Stretch high-ability learners with pre-A-Level content while their curiosity is high.
Snapshot
- Nine pioneering IP schools admitted their first Year-1 cohorts in 2004. Today
19 campuses
(plus the boarding-heavy NUS High) run variations of IP, feeding roughly
4 000 pupils
- the top ≈ 10 % of every PSLE cohort.
Mixed-stream alliances matter.
Catholic High School → Eunoia JC pathway (boys in Sec 1-4, mixed in JC)
CHIJ St Nicholas + Singapore Chinese Girls' → Eunoia JC pathway (girls)
Victoria School (boys) + Cedar Girls' → Victoria JC pathway (mixed in JC)
River Valley High School (RVHS) - a full 6-year co-ed IP campus that draws many west-side students
1.2 Three Credential End-Points
Route
Final Exam
Major Schools
GCE A-Level
Year 6
Raffles Institution, Hwa Chong Institution, National JC, Victoria-Cedar Alliance (VS + Cedar Girls' → VJC), Catholic High / St Nicholas / SCGS → Eunoia JC, River Valley HS (6-yr standalone)
IB Diploma
Year 6
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), SJI, CHIJ St Nicholas with Eunoia JC
NUS High Diploma
Year 6
NUS High (NUS/SEAB-validated)
All IP tracks promise seamless promotion from Sec 1 to JC 2 (or equivalent), provided internal criteria are met.
2 Structure in 60 Seconds
2.1 Two Phases, One Long Arc
Years 1-4
Years 5-6
Lower & Upper Secondary (IP)
JC 1 & JC 2 (or IB / NUS High Yr 5-6)
Syllabus ≈ Express + A-Level bite-size
Full H2/H3 or IB HL
Weighted Assessments (WAs) + End-Year
Block Tests + Promotional + Prelims
2.2 Skip but Not Slack
Students still sit a finale: A-Level 9748 Physics, 9758 Maths, IB HL Math AA, etc.-just two years after peers who went through O-Levels.
3 Admissions Pathways
3.1 By PSLE Score
Most IP schools set entry AL < 8 (old T-score ≲ 255). Cut-offs fluctuate yearly; always check the latest MOE SchoolFinder.
Tip for west-side students:River Valley High School IPcut−off≈PSLEAL7−8 often admits pupils living in Jurong, Clementi and Queenstown, so check its latest score band before assuming you must travel east for IP.
Year 2: Vectors in forces; energy-power rate questions.
Year 3: SUVAT, Newton's Laws, free-body diagrams (see FBD Master Guide).
Year 4: Electricity, electromagnetism, first derivations of E=−dtdΦ.
Inline sample: the SUVAT identity v2=u2+2as pops up one year ahead of Express peers.
Block maths sample:
Fnet=i∑Fi=ma
4.3 Chemistry & Beyond
Although this pillar focuses on Math & Physics, note that lower-sec IP Science already dives into covalent bonding energetics and the reversible reaction NX2+3HX22NHX3.
"No O-Levels = less stress." Workload shifts earlier; Sec 3 is often the toughest year (Why Sec 3 IP Students Struggle).
"Tuition is unnecessary for IP kids." Standard Express-level tuition rarely covers IP-specific proofs, derivations and uncertainty propagation. Eclat's IP-only classes plug precisely these gaps.
Practical & uncertainty coaching - pendulum mini-lab with 1% error propagation, units via m⋅s−2.
School-specific clinics - elective "booster" sessions timed one week before Eunoia, Victoria-Cedar and River Valley WA blocks, so mixed-stream students tackle the exact graph-analysis and proof styles their teachers favour.
Inline unit demo: acceleration due to gravity g=9.81m⋅s−2.
9 Frequently Asked Questions
Is Triple Science compulsory? No, but many IP schools nudge top sets into PCMB; see promotion-cut-off table above.
Can my child re-enter Express if IP feels overwhelming? Possible but rare; involves MOE approval and seat availability.
How early should we bridge algebra? Ideally in the P6 Nov holiday-factorising ax2+bx+c becomes baseline by Week 2 of IP Math.
Does the IP cram more homework? Work shifts earlier; weekly sum often equals Express + tuition, but spread across CCA and research blocks.
10 Key Takeaways & Next Steps
IP = six-year sprint without an O-Level pit-stop-glorious freedom and early pressure.
Math & Physics escalate fast-binomial, derivations, energy graphs in Sec 3.
Assessment now values transfer & design-not just final answers.
Specialist IP tuition plugs method, mindset and practical-skills gaps before they snowball.
Action Step: Book a 15-min Zoom diagnostic; well pinpoint the one misconception costing your child marks in F=ma and show a fix.
